The Indictments handed down last week by Robert Mueller in Russia's 2016 Election Interference are putting the Next Election, less than 9 Months away, into Sharp Focus.

The entire Team of Intelligence Chiefs unanimously say that Russia is actively working to Interfere in the 2018 Election. But a Number of State Elections Officials are sounding the Alarm that they are not getting the Information they need to Conduct a Valid Election.

They say the Federal Government is not Sharing specifics about Threats to Registered Voter Databases, Voting Machines, Communication Networks, and other Systems that could be Vulnerable to Hacking and Manipulation.

In some cases, the Election Officials say they have no Legal Access to the Information: After a year of effort, only 21 of them have received Clearance to Review Classified Federal Information on Election Threats. Some State Leaders said they were Disappointed over a Classified Briefing, at a Meeting of the National Organization of Secretaries of State, they received on Friday on the Threat posed by Russia, saying that Senior Intelligence Officials left a great deal Unclear, including the Precise Nature of the Threat and exactly why State Officials were being left in the dark.

"I would have thought that behind closed doors yesterday would have been the time to say, 'This is why this stuff has to be classified,' and I heard none of it," Mac Warner, the Republican Secretary of State in West Virginia, said on Saturday at a Discussion of Security Preparations for the 2018 Election Season. "The phrase 'rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic' comes to mind."

Meanwhile, Department of Homeland Security officials Admit they aren't working up to Snuff here. "That's the No. 1 goal for us—to make sure you get what you need," one Official, Acting Undersecretary for National Protection Christopher Krebs, told them. "A year ago, I don't think we had that self-awareness and humility, but things are a little bit different now." Okay, so now they have Self-Awareness and Humility. They've got precious little time to develop Actual Competence.

The Secretaries of State were also told "There are reasons that we are worried that things could become more serious, […] Professionals at the senior level with a lot of experience saw that they got close enough to the line—the Russians got close enough to the line—and anticipate that it could be different, or worse, the next time." That was from Robert Kolasky, the Department of Homeland Security's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection. But what they weren't told were any Specifics about what is or could be happening and what they can do about it.

They also have to be able to assure the Voting Population that the System is Secure and that they can have faith in our Election Process, because undermining that Faith in our System seems to be Russia's Primary Goal.

It seems that it's OK for this Administration to allow People with Interim Security Clearance to view Classified material, but the Elections Officials who are suppose to protect the Voting Systems, were denied Clearance to Review Classified Federal Information on Election Threats.

I held Secret Clearance during my time in the Air Force, 1965-1971, but how much did a 21 year old have to hide?









NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker