美国国家公共电台 NPR Election Security Becomes A Political Issue In Georgia Governor's Race

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

And now onto election security, which is a huge campaign issue ahead of this year's midterms. In Georgia, the Republican candidate for governor is also secretary of state. The top election official, Brian Kemp, insists Georgia's elections are secure. But as Johnny Kauffman of member station WABE reports, Democrats² want immediate³ changes.

(APPLAUSE)

CAROLINE STOVER: Thank you. And again, we're here at Manuel's Tavern⁴ in Atlanta. And we do have people from all over Georgia tuning⁵ in. So welcome, everyone.

JOHNNY KAUFFMAN, BYLINE⁶: Caroline Stover, a Democratic activist⁷, speaks to about 100 people in the back room of a wood-paneled bar as they sip⁸ beers and eat tater tots. They came to learn about Georgia's election system. And what they hear from Stover and others is that the system is not secure.

STOVER: Here we are three months before an important election, living with the reality that, once again, Georgia voters might be going to the polls and not know if your vote actually counts.

KAUFFMAN: One big topic at Manuel's Tavern is paper ballots¹⁰. A handful of voters filed an ongoing¹¹ federal lawsuit¹² pushing the state to use them in the midterms. Democrats like Stover want Republican secretary of state and candidate for governor Brian Kemp to order a switch to paper ballots himself.

STOVER: Enough is enough. And we simply can't wait any longer for, for example, our secretary of state.

KAUFFMAN: Georgia is one of 14 states that uses electronic voting machines without a paper trail or paper ballots. Cybersecurity experts agree this leaves elections more vulnerable. Worst-case scenario¹³ - hackers¹⁴ manipulate Georgia's vote totals. And there's no paper backup to do a manual recount. That could mean chaos¹⁵. Kemp isn't opposed to paper ballots. But he says a switch to them shouldn't happen before the 2018 election.

BRIAN KEMP: And that would be an absolute disaster - changing from the current system that we have now to paper ballots.

KAUFFMAN: Kemp has faced questions about the security of Georgia's elections. Ahead of the 2016 contest, an outside researcher found voter information and passwords unsecured on a state contractor's website. After Russian hacking¹⁶ attempts were revealed, Kemp turned down assistance from the Department of Homeland Security. A few months later, he accused DHS itself of hacking the state's network. That proved to be false. Kemp insists Georgia's elections are secure.

KEMP: I think, if anything, my record is a strength for me. I mean, I'm glad to talk about that record all day long.

KAUFFMAN: Kemp notes added firewalls and regular work with cybersecurity vendors¹⁷. Before he won the Republican nomination¹⁸, some in Kemp's party questioned his record. They're more quiet now. Kemp's opponent, Democrat¹ Stacey Abrams, hasn't criticized him much. But other Democrats have.

ELIZABETH STARLING: I think he's not only failing in his duty, but he shouldn't have it. He should not have that responsibility anymore.

KAUFFMAN: Back at the bar, Democrat Elizabeth Starling says Kemp has no business overseeing any election as secretary of state when he's on the ballot⁹ himself.

STARLING: I'm infuriated.

KAUFFMAN: The Georgia Democratic Party this week called for Kemp to resign. While some previous secretaries of state running for higher office here have stepped down, Kemp says he has no plans to. Marian Schneider says election administration in the U.S. is often run by partisans¹⁹. But today, she worries it will hurt the country. Schneider is president of Verified Voting, a nonprofit that advocates for paper ballots.

MARIAN SCHNEIDER: This issue of election administration and election security is not a political issue. It's a national security issue. These are national security concerns.

KAUFFMAN: Schneider says everyone should still vote. As candidates in Georgia fight to win those votes, they'll also be arguing about whether the technology used to cast and count them can be trusted. For NPR News, I'm Johnny Kauffman in Atlanta.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

5 tuning   

n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

8 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

9 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

10 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

12 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

13 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

14 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

15 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

16 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

17 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

18 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

19 partisans   

游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙

参考例句：

• Every movement has its partisans. 每一运动都有热情的支持者。
• He was rescued by some Italian partisans. 他被几名意大利游击队员所救。