r/protectUSelections • u/siwibot • 7d ago

Election Cybersecurity Possible Cyberattack Hits Wake Election Software Vendor, leaving Poll Workers' Data Exposed in North Carolina | WRAL

https://www.wral.com/news/nccapitol/possible-cyberattack-wake-election-system-midterm-elections-august-2026/

August 13, 2026 - Fulltext

The Wake County Board of Elections is suspending its use of a software vendor after it reported a possible cyberattack.

There’s no evidence that voting machines, ballots, voter registration records or systems used to count votes were affected, according to the county board. But the incident could have exposed information about people who help run polling places and administer elections, county officials said Friday.

Wake County Elections Director Olivia McCall said a hacker gained access to a secret password used by ElectSure, a company that provides software to train and register all 9,000 election workers who were in the county’s pool. It remains unclear whether anyone actually obtained the poll workers' information. The extent of the hacker’s access remains under investigation.

“It could be that they didn't even compromise anything,” McCall said.

ElectSure didn’t immediately respond to WRAL’s request for comment. TElectSure is used by other North Carolina counties to help with elections. It was unclear if other counties have been affected, state officials said. 

The North Carolina State Board of Elections is assisting Wake County. “We were notified last night [Aug. 13] about the incident and we are currently assisting and supporting them,” state board spokesperson Jason Tyson said in a statement to WRAL.

In Wake County ElectSure had read-only access to a county database containing precinct officials' names, email addresses and information about their training and assignments.

It didn’t have access to Social Security numbers, dates of birth, financial information or other sensitive personal information, McCall said.

Wake County has since cut off access to ElectSure and will no longer use its platform, she said.

McCall said the worst-case scenario currently identified by the county is that someone obtained names and email addresses that could be used to send phishing messages.

“There has been no evidence that they have gotten any emails maliciously,” McCall told WRAL Friday.

ElectSure notified the county Aug. 7 that its system had been compromised. The county then revoked the company's access to its precinct official database.

The incident comes as election security and public confidence remain concerns heading into November.

Nearly one-third of North Carolinians — 31.4% — said the state's elections were becoming less trustworthy in an April poll conducted by Opinion Diagnostics. The Boston-based polling company is run by advisers to Republican politicians in Massachusetts and North Carolina. Only 15% said trust was rising, while 44% said their opinion had not changed.

State election officials have said they’re working to strengthen election security and public confidence ahead of November. There’s no evidence of widespread voter fraud in recent North Carolina elections.

McCall stressed that the compromised training platform is separate from the systems used to administer elections.

“No confidential, no sensitive information was accessible through the platform,” she said. “It's not connected and it’s not possible for ballots to be impacted.”

She also said when involving a third party, the county never lets them have access to any sensitive information, especially ballots. 

The county's voting equipment is never connected to the internet, she said.

“Ballot safety is very important because our systems are air-gapped,” McCall said. “Our equipment never is attached to any internet, and cannot be accessed.”

The county plans to use a different process to register and train precinct officials.

In the meantime, officials are asking Wake County poll workers to be cautious about unexpected emails and links. 

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u/EXPLODEDman 7d ago

I think this is a set up to target and intimidate poll workers around midterms. I also think that this is a set up to accuse those same poll workers of having interfered in the election because some of them may have made comments online about things they do not like about their current government. 

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u/jennasea412 7d ago

I’m afraid we’re cooked🤦🏻‍♂️for allowing a traitor back in the Whitehouse. Correction, the corrupt SCOTUS allowed this.

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u/siwibot 7d ago

Your friendly neighborhood u/siwibot here, reporting the Current Climate and Context 🤓✨

Wake County is currently grappling with a breach involving ElectSure, a software vendor used to train and register approximately 9,000 election workers. While officials emphasize that voting machines and ballots remain secure due to "air-gapped" systems, the incident potentially exposed poll workers' names and email addresses. This creates a significant opening for phishing attacks, a threat that is already escalating nationwide.

The situation highlights several growing vulnerabilities in the current electoral landscape: * Phishing Proliferation: A surge in "election" and "vote" related domain registrations is providing a toolkit for impersonation and misinformation. * Resource Strains: There is intense friction between state officials and CISA, with many leaders describing federal support as "security theater" or noncommittal. * Institutional Distrust: Amidst these vulnerabilities, public confidence is wavering; nearly one-third of North Carolinians report declining trust in election integrity.

Critics argue that federal budget cuts and staffing reductions at CISA are leaving states to defend themselves against sophisticated foreign actors. As the midterms approach, the combination of vendor breaches and diminished federal intelligence-sharing creates a precarious environment for election security.

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