(KTTS News) — Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is denying any wrongdoing after a state audit found some concerns.
State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick gave Ashcroft’s office a fair rating this week, saying Ashcroft illegally held information on cybersecurity checks for local election authorities and backed out of a national elections clearinghouse that was intended to make elections more secure.
Fitzpatrick says leaving the Electronic Registration Information Center, known as ERIC, will cause local election authorities to have less information to identify and correct inaccurate voter records.
Ashcroft says ERIC had become partisan.
He says after the changes, Missouri is now ranked as one of the leaders in secure elections.
When it comes to cybersecurity information, Ashcroft says his office could not release anything to the auditor because it had signed non-disclosure agreements with local authorities.
He says the new cybersecurity law doesn’t go into effect until August, so there was no reason for his office to give the auditors that information.
Ashcroft, who’s running for governor, calls the audit a political attack.
