Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has taken the unusual step of activating his state’s National Guard, activating their cyber security team prior to the election.
While details are scant, walker’s Executive Order asks the National Guard to, “provide essential services to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.”
Walker is in a difficult race against Tony Evers. Evers, a democrat, is up on Walker by 5 points.
Reid Magney, a spokesperson for the Wisconsin Elections Commission, told the Associated Press that he couldn’t recall any previous election with such an order being issued. The National Guard has only had a cyber security tea, since 2016.
Walker has served as Wisconsin’s Governor since 2010, and has faced numerous controversies as well as a recall effort in 2012. Walker is a deeply polarizing figure, known as a staunch opponent of abortion — even in cases of rape or incest — as well as same-sex marriage and immigration.
Russian Hackers did target Wisconsin’s voter registration system in 2016, but were unsuccessful.
Wisconsin also uses paper ballots over hackable electronic voter machines, making some wonder if the activation is more of a political ploy than a needed resource.
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license