Hacking the election!

Washington

SOMEONE - the Russian military, say many cyber specialists - broke into the computers of the US Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, releasing emails and sensitive documents. Sounds bad, and is. But a worse danger looms: the possibility that hackers (whether Russians or others) will manipulate America's voting machines, casting doubt on the election's outcome.

Imagine. It's the day after the election. Either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump has "won". But the victor's triumph rests on close results in five or six states, where the winner had a few thousand more votes. Assume also that each of these states used - at least partially - electronic voting. Assume then that the loser alleges that cyber tampering stole the election.