Voter registration information compromised

ANCHORAGE — On Dec.3, Lieutenant Gov. Kevin Meyer notified Alaskans through a press release from the Division of Elections that as many as 113,000 Alaskans may have had personal information such as birth dates and license numbers exposed in an attack on the DOE online voter registration system, which was built by an outside vendor and operated by the DOE.

“The preliminary investigation indicates that although outside actors accessed voter registration information, the purpose of the unlawful access was to spread propaganda and shake voter confidence, not to impact the election results,” reads the press release. “Although some voters’ personal information was exposed, the division has determined that no other election systems or data were affected. The divisions ballot tabulation systems, 2020 general election results and voter database remain secure.”

Meyer became aware of the breach on Oct. 27 and began working with the vendor to stop further exposure along with staff from DOE, the state security office, law enforcement, and a computer forensics team to uncover the scope of the problem and secure databases and web applications.

“We have no evidence that the data has been used for anything other than propaganda. We are notifying voters to help them verify that their personal information is secure,” said Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai. “I remain confident in our voting procedures and the election workers and staff that make it all happen. Be assured that your vote was counted, despite this unfortunate event.”

A toll free number has been set up at 1-833-269-0003 for people who want to know if they have been affected. The DOE states that the online voter registration system is now secure and functional and the flaw has been remedied.

“This was a very unfortunate discovery,” said Meyer. “We have been working diligently to understand the situation and identify the extent of the exposure so that we can accurately inform the public and the affected individuals about what occurred. I have full confidence in the voting process and in the final 2020 election results. Our voting procedures, ballot tabulation systems and election review processes are not linked to the voter registration system that was compromised, and we have other safeguards that ensure every voter’s registration can be verified.”

Although voters’ information may have been compromised, the disconnect between ballot tabulation machines and online voter registration system is among one of the strengths of the Alaskan election process.