EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that NBC News retracted its report on Russian hacking of voter registration rolls. NBC issues the following statement:
"CORRECTION: This Nightly News segment has been updated to correct a map of 21 states that officials say were targeted by Russian hackers. Our original report incorrectly showed Georgia and omitted Alaska. Georgia is not one of the 21 targeted states; Alaska is: https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/dhs-cybersecurity-head-no-doubt-russians-penetrated-voter-registration-systems-1156224579945"
ATLANTA -- Secretary of State Brian Kemp said Georgia wasn't among the states targeted by Russian hackers in 2016.
A NBC News report, citing the U.S. official in charge of protecting American elections, said that the Russians successfully penetrated the voter registration rolls of several U.S. states prior to the 2016 presidential election. On Wednesday, NBC News showed a graphic that indicated that Georgia was among 21 states whose voter lists were targeted. NBC later modified the graphic and removed Georgia from the list of states targeted.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Brian Kemp's office told 11Alive News Georgia wasn’t targeted.
“I personally spoke to an official (in September) from the Department of Homeland Security. They confirmed… Georgia was not targeted or breached by the Russians during the 2016 general election,” Kemp said in a statement.
None of those states was disrupted by the hackers, though federal officials say an unspecified number was "penetrated."
State officials say it’s commonplace for hackers to try to penetrate the state’s electronic data – and not just voter data.
Georgia has had its security hiccups. The Secretary of State’s office accidentally sent out confidential voter data to news organizations and political groups in 2015. And last year, the FBI investigated an alleged hack at the Center for Elections Systems in Kennesaw, which certifies Georgia’s voting equipment.
