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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Idaho official: Federal agency may have tried to hack state elections site

Voters cast their ballots at Cynthia Mann Elementary School in Boise, Idaho, on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. (Otto Kitsinger / Associated Press)

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – The Idaho secretary of state believes a federal agency may have tried to hack the state’s election website around the date of the presidential election without notifying Idaho officials in advance.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s IP address showed up as trying to access the state elections site around Nov. 8, Secretary of State Lawerence Denney said Monday. Similar accusations were made by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp in December, reported the Post Register reported.

“I don’t know what they penetrated, or what they tried, I just know their IP address showed up as hitting our website,” said Denney. “I don’t know what they were doing. It would have been nice if they had told us.”

DHS only conducts cybersecurity scans with the consent of the system owner, according to a statement from the department. DHS said it will work with Denney’s office to address his concerns.

Homeland security officials previously said an employee had been legitimately accessing information in the Georgia incident but his computer was wrongly configured and made it appear that the system was hacked.