Sen. Angus King Angus KingShakespeare Theatre Company goes virtual for 'Will on the Hill...or Won't They?' On The Trail: How Nancy Pelosi could improbably become president Angus King: Ending election security briefings 'looks like a pre-cover-up' MORE (I-Maine) sent a letter to Senate Appropriations leadership Tuesday calling for $160 million to supply states with voting machines that provide a paper record.

"Rational analysis concludes that our voting equipment will certainly be subject to sophisticated cyberattacks that are likely to change election outcomes without detection," King wrote in his letter to Sens. John Boozman John Nichols BoozmanCOVID-19 relief talks look dead until September Senate GOP hedges on attending Trump's convention amid coronavirus uptick The Hill's Coronavirus Report: San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus Artistic Director Tim Seelig says choirs are dangerous; Pence says, 'We have saved lives' MORE (R-Ark.) and Jon Tester Jonathan (Jon) TesterPence seeks to boost Daines in critical Montana Senate race This World Suicide Prevention Day, let's recommit to protecting the lives of our veterans Filibuster fight looms if Democrats retake Senate MORE (D-Mont.).

Many of the digital voting machines that were purchased to help disabled and hard-of-sight voters do not provide a paper record of votes. That makes it harder to audit vote tallies if hacking or other tampering is suspected. Paper records cannot be altered by malware.

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There is no evidence that voting machines were hacked in the 2016 presidential election. And since election machines are purchased locally and are vastly different from locality to locality, hacking a national election without being detected would be a daunting task. Hacking state and local elections, however, would be more realistic.

"A simple and effective solution to the cybersecurity vulnerability of our voting systems is available immediately: audit the results of elections instead of trying to secure computer systems," King wrote in his letter.