Lexington will be the first city in Kentucky to use new election security devices meant to better protect statewide election data.
About 800 people in the state have the ability to log in to Kentucky's voter registration system. Once the new devices are in place, those individuals will have to go through a two-factor authentication system, like the ones commonly used to access bank accounts online.
Secretary of State Michael Adams said the extra layer of security is more of a precautionary measure intended to stop unauthorized access by a third party, "whether that would be someone who's a foreign agent, a domestic instigator, or even someone with a campaign trying to tinker with the results. This is really blind as to the identity of who that person would be or their specific motive. It just keeps those people from getting into the system."
Adams did not cite any live threat to the registration system or attacks in other states that prompted the security upgrades.
The changes will be implemented first in Lexington, but eventually statewide, over the next year, with a goal of having them in place by Kentucky's next elections in 2022.
