(TNS) – A data breach by voting software company EasyVote Solutions exposed Georgia voter registration information on the Internet, the company confirmed Tuesday.
Public voter information was posted to an online forum, but the breach did not involve Social Security numbers or driver’s license numbers, said Charles Davis, chief financial officer of EasyVote. Voter registration information may include names, addresses, races and dates of birth.
EasyVote’s software is not connected to Georgia voter registration computers. EasyVote does not generate or count ballots and is not used for election results.
The Woodstock-based company provides software that streamlines voter registration for early voting in dozens of Georgia counties, including Fulton, Oconee and Paulding counties. The software uses local voter registration to print completed election applications for voters when they arrive at the polls, instead of requiring voters to complete paperwork by hand.
The voter information may have been obtained from an EasyVote online storage location, Davis said. It’s unclear how many voters were affected by the breach, which EasyVote was made aware of on Jan. 31.
“Upon learning that the files had been made available, EasyVote immediately launched an investigation,” Davis said. “EasyVote quickly disabled access to this storage location and moved the data to a new environment with additional security controls.”
Georgia’s voter registration system remains secure, according to the secretary of state’s office.
“EasyVote is not part of the Georgian voting system. This is a provider that some counties use to help them with voter registration procedures. No part of the state system has been affected,” said Ari Schaffer, spokesman for the secretary of state’s office.
EasyVote has contacted law enforcement and is working with a cybersecurity firm, Davis said. The company reviews records to determine the extent of information that may have been exposed.
© 2022 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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