(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
BOISE, Idaho -Record numbers of people have hit the polls in Idaho and that's just in early voting and absentee ballots.
But a concern, one that's caught the attention of the Secretary of State, cybersecurity.
The state is partnering with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to make sure hackers don't infiltrate their systems.
With elections being called "critical infrastructure," the same term governments use to classify roads, water systems, and airports, Idaho Secretary of State,
Lawerence Denney, says election security is at the utmost importance.
"It's kind of a new game for us having them be available for us all election night for us and take care of anything that could go wrong," Denney said.
A changing political climate has brought us to where we are today.
Denney says he never thought the issue of cybersecurity would be one that could possibly change an election.
"Two years ago, I had no idea what cybersecurity was," Denney said.
Two years ago, 21 states, including Washington and Oregon, were notified by the Department of Homeland Security that their election systems were hacked.
And what could go wrong ranges anywhere from hacking election systems to voter fraud to identity theft.
Idaho is a 100% paper ballot state, but they do scan their ballots to have them counted.
Denny says they are less concerned with a hacker potentially affecting or changing the outcome of an election.
But, they are concerned with...
"Just the disruption and what could happen on election night if somebody hacked in and knocked down all our election night reporting and that kind of stuff," Denney said.