Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum says she’s confident in the security of today’s special election. The county is trying to resolve a malware attack on its IT network first detected over the weekend.
Ingham County officials have enlisted the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget to help inspect more than 1,600 affected work stations.
The attempted hack prompted the county clerk’s office to close its doors Monday and Tuesday as a preemptive measure to safeguard personal data.
Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum says today’s special election is secure because data was programmed weeks ago on an entirely separate system.
"This is not going to affect the tallying of the results, because that's a separate computer," Byrum says. "This may...may affect how I am able to report unofficial election night results."
Byrum says if she is indeed unable to communicate election results through the county homepage, she'll do so through an alternative website.