Wisconsin Election Security Focus Of Testing, Planning

Plans to bolster election security in Wisconsin include training nearly 2,000 local clerks on how to protect passwords and avoid other computer hacking attempts.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission is working with cyber-security specialists from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a two-week risk-assessment test in May or June to identify vulnerabilities.

The commission was meeting Tuesday to discuss its security plan. It comes after federal officials said Wisconsin was targeted by the Russians for hacking in the 2016 election. State officials have said the hacking attempts were unsuccessful and no voter data was compromised.

One of the security challenges Wisconsin election officials have identified is finding the best way to train the 1,853 municipal clerks who run elections. Plans include online tutorials and having counties serve as regional training hubs.