Electoral Commission hack: Five things you need to know

The public statement only raises more questions

Tom Allen
clock • 5 min read
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4. Will this affect elections?

According to the Electoral Commission, no. The UK's low-tech paper voting system is difficult to affect with a cyberattack, and the Commission says the breach hasn't affected anyone's electoral status.

"The UK's democratic process is significantly dispersed and key aspects of it remain based on paper documentation and counting. This means it would be very hard to use a cyber-attack to influence the process."

Additionally, the Commission only holds copies of electoral registers for research purposes. Local authorities hold the live versions, which are used to send out polling cards and at polling stations - those were unaffected by the attack. 

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