by Kathy Foster
Washington County Supervisor of Elections Carol Finch Rudd says that at this time Washington County can neither confirm or deny that they are one of the counties affected by Russian hacking.
Out of the county for a conference this week, Rudd said in a press relase that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been able to give assurance that they did not detect any adversary activity that impaced vote counts or disrupted electoral processes during the 2016 or 2018 elections.
Rudd said that Washington County, along with the other 66 counties in Florida have worked with the FBI and DHS to give the voters of Florida the confidence that they are working hard to protect the electroal process.
The Washington County Supervisor of Elections also released the following statement issued by the FBI, “On May 10, the FBI and DHS met with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and state officials in reponse to questions regarding Florida’s election infrastructure. The FBI provided information involving the attempted intrusion into Supervisor of Elections networks throughout the state. The FBI also provided assurance that investigators did not detect any adversay activity that impacted vote counts or disrupted electroal processes during the 2016 or 2018 elections. The FBI and DHS continue to work with elections officials and our local, state and federal partners to proactively share information in a concerted effort to protect elections networks in Florida, and across the country, from adversary sactivity.”
She went on to add, “We have also confirmed that since the midterm election, the FBI and DHS have had significant interaction with elections officials across the state of Florida including, but not limited to on-site visits, collection of evidence and offers of remediation when needed.”