--- title: Russians Hacked Arizona Voter Registration System -Official description: Russians were responsible for the recent breach of Arizona's voter registration system, the FBI told state officials in June. canonical: https://time.com/4472169/russian-hackers-arizona-voter-registration/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-30T12:56:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:16:46.145Z article:section: Politics og:title: Russians Hacked Arizona Voter Registration Database -Official og:description: The voter registration database in Illinois was also recently hacked og:url: https://time.com/4472169/russian-hackers-arizona-voter-registration/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ac05d8762baa288/6988a422fb4eacc66588eea5/fbi-russian-hack.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: US Federal Agency and World Group Buildings og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Russians Hacked Arizona Voter Registration Database -Official twitter:description: The voter registration database in Illinois was also recently hacked twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ac05d8762baa288/6988a422fb4eacc66588eea5/fbi-russian-hack.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Russians Hacked Arizona Voter Registration Database -Official > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 30, 2016 12:56 PM UTC  The Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 26, 2016. The Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 26, 2016. Samuel Corum—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 30, 2016 12:56 PM UTC Russians were responsible for the recent [breach of Arizona’s voter registration system](http://time.com/4471042/fbi-voter-database-breach-arizona-illinois/), the FBI told state officials in June. Matt Roberts, a spokesman for Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan said on Monday that FBI investigators did not say whether the hackers were working for the Russian government or not, the [Washington _Post_ reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-is-investigating-foreign-hacks-of-state-election-systems/2016/08/29/6e758ff4-6e00-11e6-8365-b19e428a975e%5Fstory.html). He said hackers gained access after stealing the username and password of an election official in Gila County, rather than compromising the state or county system. The FBI also [uncovered a breach](http://time.com/4471042/fbi-voter-database-breach-arizona-illinois/) in the voter registration database in Illinois. The hacks added to concerns about security ahead of November’s presidential election after other attempts by Russia to meddle in U.S. elections. The Arizona and Illinois findings follow revelations about a [Russian hack](http://time.com/4368534/dnc-democratic-national-committee-hack-russia-donald-trump/) into the Democratic National Committee computer network in June. At least two other states are investigating possible breaches, [officials told the _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-is-investigating-foreign-hacks-of-state-election-systems/2016/08/29/6e758ff4-6e00-11e6-8365-b19e428a975e%5Fstory.html). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4472169/russian-hackers-arizona-voter-registration/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4472169/russian-hackers-arizona-voter-registration/"},"headline":"Russians Hacked Arizona Voter Registration Database -Official","datePublished":"2016-08-30T12:56:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:16:46.145Z","description":"The voter registration database in Illinois was also recently hacked","url":"https://time.com/4472169/russian-hackers-arizona-voter-registration/","keywords":["2016 elections","russia","Arizona","Illinois","cyber security"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ac05d8762baa288/6988a422fb4eacc66588eea5/fbi-russian-hack.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7ac05d8762baa288/6988a422fb4eacc66588eea5/fbi-russian-hack.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US Federal Agency and World Group Buildings","caption":"US Federal Agency and World Group Buildings","creditText":"Samuel Corum—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-elections/","name":"2016 elections"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4472169/russian-hackers-arizona-voter-registration/","name":"Russians Hacked Arizona Voter Registration Database -Official"}}]}] ```