Alaska officials say hackers stole voter info, didn’t compromise election integrity

Voters sign for their ballots at the Auke Bay precinct on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by Rashah McChesney/KTOO)

State officials said Thursday that hackers stole personal information like birth dates and driver’s license numbers of more than 100,000 Alaska voters, though they stressed that there was no effect on the results of last month’s election.

The hackers gained unauthorized access to the state’s online voter registration system, which was built and maintained by a contractor and operated by the Alaska Division of Elections, officials said in a prepared statement Thursday.

Republican Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer, who supervises Alaska’s election system, learned of the hack Oct. 27, his office said in the statement.

“I have some sad news. The state of Alaska was the victim of data exposure by outside actors,” Meyer said at a news conference held shortly afterward. While personal information was exposed, he added, “no other election systems or data were affected.”

In 2016, state elections officials acknowledged that hackers accessed the server that hosts Alaska’s public elections website. But they said no damage was done and that it would not have been possible for the hacker to manipulate votes or results because of the state’s layers of cyber-defenses.

This is a breaking news story — check back for updates.

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