Russian Malware Found Uploaded To Florida Election Systems: Woodward

0
2521

According to a new book from longtime journalist Bob Woodward, federal intelligence agencies have evidence that there was malware in the election registration computer systems of two Florida counties, St. Lucie and Washington. Apparently, there’s no evidence that the malware was actually used, but it could have erased voters from the voter rolls, it seems. If the malware had been put into motion, then — presumably — Democratic-leaning voters could have been erased from registration records ahead of Election Day, and since Florida does not allow for same-day voter registration, then those voters would have been out of luck.

CNN reports the following:

‘Woodward reports new details on Russia’s election meddling, writing that the NSA and CIA have classified evidence the Russians had placed malware in the election registration systems of at least two Florida counties, St. Lucie and Washington. While there was no evidence the malware had been activated, Woodward writes, it was sophisticated and could erase voters in specific districts. The voting system vendor used by Florida was also used in states across the country.’

Washington County is on the smaller side, but St. Lucie County, which is north of Palm Beach, is not. In the 2016 election, over 137,000 votes for president were cast in St. Lucie County, and Trump won the jurisdiction by a margin of about 3,400 votes. (In Washington County, about 10,900 votes for president were cast, and Trump won the county by a larger margin — about 6,400 votes.) Trump won the entire state of Florida by a margin of just 1.2 percent in 2016, suggesting that if Russian malware had been activated, then there could easily have been a potentially significant effect on the results.

Trump has consistently sought to downplay the threat of Russian interference in U.S. elections, no matter the evidence. Meanwhile, the revelation of secret evidence of Russian malware in U.S. election systems was far from the only major bombshell in Woodward’s new book. He also revealed, for instance, that Trump admitted to intentionally downplaying the threat of the Coronavirus to the American people. If he’d treated the crisis as something more serious than a public relations headache, then maybe large numbers of the Americans who have died from the Coronavirus would still be alive today.