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Federal team in Maryland evaluating election system

Credit: Marc Piscotty/Getty Images
Kerry Hinton, 43, of Lakewood, Colorado fills out her ballot at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds on November 8, 2016 in Golden, Colorado.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A U.S. Department of Homeland Security team is in Maryland this week to evaluate the state's election systems, after officials learned last month about a transaction between a venture fund with Russian ties and a company involved in the state's election infrastructure.

Linda Lamone, Maryland's elections administrator, said Tuesday that the Hunt and Incident Response Team is evaluating whether there are issues concerning ByteGrid, a U.S. company that hosts Maryland elections systems. ByteGrid was acquired in 2011 by AltPoint Capital, whose largest investor is a Russian oligarch.

Meanwhile, Maryland plans to spend about $7 million in federal grants for election security improvements. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission released a report Tuesday showing how states plan to spend $380 million to strengthen voting systems amid ongoing threats from Russia and others.

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