RPT - All Voting Machines Worked Well During US Midterms, No Signs Of Hacking - OSCE

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th November, 2018) All equipment worked well during the voting in the US midterm elections, and there were no signs of hacking, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) special coordinator George Tsereteli told Sputnik.

"Observers went to different polling stations. All the machinery went well, I mean not any signs that anybody hacked something," Tsereteli said on Wednesday. "But it is one side. Another side of foreign interference is social media Facebook, Twitter, other social media outlets, and that we don't know what happened. It might come after analytical work and after the work of intelligence services, but at this moment we did not have any verified case of any type of interference."

Head of the OSCE PA delegation Isabel Santos told Sputnik that up until now, the observers did not see any evidence of foreign interference in the midterm elections.

"In all countries [the concerns about foreign interference] are legit at this moment. We understand that we are facing around the world real threats on this issue," she said.

Santos said authorities around the world need to be ready to respond and cooperate on issues of election security.

"Cyber space is an open space without borders and threats can come from everywhere and even from single citizen. We must be prepared to invest in cybersecurity - invest in technical condition and invest in dialogue between countries to defend ourselves," Santos said.

Tsereteli noted that the mission leadership would go to the State Department, and all the governmental agencies, including the Congress and the Senate to discuss their findings and make recommendations on future midterm elections.

The United States held its midterms on Tuesday. According to the latest results, Democrats so far have a 222-196 lead in the lower house of Congress - 218 seats were needed to secure a majority. Republicans will continue to be in control of the Senate after retaining their majority.