Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson has asked the Legislature for $166,000 to hire a staffer tasked with combating election hacking activities by the Russian government.

The request comes after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security analyzed Oregon's election security systems and found flaws, according to a state document outlining the budget request. Details of those flaws and how they should be corrected were given by federal officials to Richardson in a classified report in December, according to the document, signed by Leslie Cummings, the deputy secretary of state.

Richardson received an additional classified briefing on Russian threats to state elections systems earlier in February. That briefing was given in Washington, D.C. by officials with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security. As secretary of state, Richardson is Oregon's top elections official.

Richardson said in a newsletter Tuesday that the briefing helped him understand that Russia's intention in meddling with U.S. elections was not to alter vote tallies, but to "undermine American confidence in our electoral system," adding that "we are in the middle of an information war."

Richardson concluded his newsletter saying, "I want you to know that you can be confident in our election system and that paper can't be hacked."

Though details of Oregon's elections security flaws are secret, the secretary of state's office is firm that another staffer is needed to keep state elections safe from enemy governments. The budget request document reads, "An additional IT security position is needed to expedite implementation of Homeland Security recommendations and protect Oregon elections from potential foreign interference."

Oregon officials have said the state was one of at least 21 that the Russian government targeted ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Richardson's agency has previously said the hacking attempts were not successful.

Digital firewalls protecting Oregon's elections systems stop an average of 24 million hacking attempts daily, according to the secretary of state's office. The agency has said those threats have come from Russia and other governments as well as individual actors.

It's likely Richardson will have his funding request approved. The legislative subcommittee that oversees his agency's budget approved the request unanimously and without discussion earlier this month.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman