In a stunning last minute power grab by the Obama administration with just 14 days left in his Presidency, the Department of Homeland Security released a statement this evening officially declaring state election systems to be  critical infrastructure.  The statement from DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson defines  election infrastructure  as  storage facilities, polling places, centralized vote tabulations locations, voter registration databases, voting machines  and all  other systems  to manage the election process so pretty much everything.I have reached this determination so that election infrastructure will, on a more formal and enduring basis, be a priority for cybersecurity assistance and protections that the Department of Homeland Security provides to a range of private and public sector entities. By  election infrastructure,  we mean storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote tabulations locations used to support the election process, and information and communications technology to include voter registration databases, voting machines, and other systems to manage the election process and report and display results on behalf of state and local governments. Given the vital role elections play in this country, it is clear that certain systems and assets of election infrastructure meet the definition of critical infrastructure, in fact and in law,  Johnson stated.  Particularly in these times, this designation is simply the right and obvious thing to do. The designation  allows for information to be withheld from the public when state, local and private partners meet to discuss election infrastructure security   potentially injecting secrecy into an election process that s traditionally and expressly a transparent process,  according to the AP. U.S. officials say such closed door conversations allow for frank discussion that would prevent bad actors from learning about vulnerabilities. DHS would also be able to grant security clearances when appropriate and provide more detailed threat information to states. The announcement of a federal takeover of the electoral process follows a report from several intelligence agencies also released Friday which purports the Russian government worked to influence the outcome of the 2016 US election.The AP reports several states in recent months opposed the move fearing  the designation would lead to increased federal regulation or oversight on the many decentralized and locally run voting systems across the country. At least one member of the US Election Infrastructure Cybersecurity Working Group, Georgia Secretary of State Brian P. Kemp, stated he opposed the measure claiming  more federal oversight could make systems more vulnerable and could make protected records more accessible,  the AP writes.Kemp reportedly called the move  a federal overreach into a sphere constitutionally reserved for the states  on a conference call with Johnson Thursday, and said the designation  smacks of partisan politics. Examples of election infrastructure include storage facilities, voter registration databases, voting locations, voting machines and other systems designed to manage the election process, the AP notes.  For entire story: InfowarsDecember 18, 2016   Georgia s secretary of state has claimed the Department of Homeland Security tried to breach his office s firewall and has issued a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson asking for an explanation.Brian Kemp issued a letter to Johnson on Thursday after the state s third-party cybersecurity provider detected an IP address from the agency s Southwest D.C. office trying to penetrate the state s firewall. According to the letter, the attempt was unsuccessful.And now, Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Aaron Diamond has learned two more states  election agencies have confirmed suspected cyberattacks linked to the same U.S. Department of Homeland Security IP address as last month s massive attack in Georgia.Watch here:Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp recently told Politico it is nothing more than an attempt to  subvert the Constitution to achieve the goal of federalizing elections under the guise of security. During an earlier interview with the site Nextgov, Kemp warned:  The question remains whether the federal government will subvert the Constitution to achieve the goal of federalizing elections under the guise of security.  Kemp told POLITICO he sees a  clear motivation from this White House  to expand federal control, citing Obama s health care law, the Dodd-Frank financial-reform legislation and the increased role of the Education Department in local schools.To some election officials, this sounds like the first stage of a more intrusive plan. I think it s kind of the nose under the tent,  said Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos, a Democrat.  What I think a lot of folks get concerned about [is] when the federal government says,  Well, look, we re not really interested in doing that, but we just want to give you this,  and then all of a sudden this leads to something else.  Meanwhile, Kemp continued on by noting that  this administration only has 15 days left in its term  and to make such a critical decision during the 11th hour  smacks of partisan politics. But we re sure it s nothing, Obama doesn t really strike us as the type to play the  partisan politics  game.  Zero Hedge