Moscow voting terminals hit by glitch possibly linked to cyberattacks

A technical glitch affected electronic voting terminals in Moscow on the first day of voting, with the devices going offline for a short period, Olga Kirillova, chairwoman of the Moscow City Election Commission, said.

Kirillova said the disruption may have been linked to cyberattacks targeting information systems, citing an assessment by specialists.

“There was indeed a technical glitch yesterday. <…> For a short period of time, our terminals went out of service. But, according to specialists, this could have been related to attacks by the adversary against information systems,” Kirillova noted.

Earlier, Central Election Commission Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova said the commission had taken potential disruptions to communications in some Russian regions into account when organising remote electronic voting. Experts had developed a special contingency plan to address possible disruptions.

Pamfilova had also previously reported an attempted cyberattack against the information resources of Russia’s electoral system. According to her, the attack was unsuccessful and did not disrupt the commission’s operations. She said the attackers had “got hit hard in the face.”

Russia is holding elections for the State Duma from September 18 to 20, with Moscow among the regions where voters can cast ballots electronically. The city is offering both online voting and electronic voting terminals at polling stations.

By Tamilla Hasanova