Washington's Secretary of State Kim Wyman sits down with KREM to discuss vote-protection heading into the 2019 and 2020 elections. 

SPOKANE, Wash. — Ever since Russia interfered with election systems across the country in 2016, public attention to the way those systems operate has gone through the roof. 

In Washington, that means Secretary of State Kim Wyman is facing more scrutiny than ever. 

On Friday, she sat down with KREM to discuss her office's current strategy for protecting against meddling in upcoming 2019 election, as well as the 2020 election that will feature presidential candidates. 

Washington uses a vote-by-mail system, meaning it of course should be harder to mess with; you can't hack paper.  But, the ballot is only one part of the process, so Wyman says the state is taking special precautions to keep the vote safe from start to finish. 

"We make sure that the tabulation systems, those things that actually count the ballots, are never connected to the internet," Wyman said. " If anything is ever called into question we can go back and recount the paper ballots." 

While many states struggle with security because of outdated or otherwise insecure electronic equipment, Wyman says Washington is well-poised to ward off attacks. 

"Right now I'd say we are probably one of the leading states," she said. " Mostly because we started a project to modernize our system about 5 years ago." 

In other words, before the big controversy of 2016, meaning Washington was comparably well-prepared to handle the Russia problem.  Still, the extent of the meddling attempts was something of a revelation. 

"The threat landscape is really changing pretty rapidly," she said. " In 2016 we detected the Russian interference.  They tried to get into our system.  They tried to get into all 50 state systems.  We were one of the 21 states that detected it and prevented them from getting in.  So we just had to up our game." 

Since then, Wyman says, national attention has also resulted in some new federal money to help states with their election security. 

The first real test will likely be next year, when there will once again be a presidential election. 

"We're just ramping up our defenses," said Wyman. " We're going to have the National Guard come in and do some more testing just to make sure we're ready." 

2020 will also bring a new electoral feature for Washington: for the first time, both parties will use a balloted primary to help determine their preferred nominee.  Previously, Democrats relied almost entirely on in-person caucuses. 

In addition, that primary will happen earlier in the year than it has in the past for Washington, meaning it could have national import. 

"I think this will be the highest turnout [primary], and I think we're going to get more national attention," said Wyman. " I think we're going to see more candidates swinging through Washington, which will be great.  And we're early enough that we could actually affect some of the outcomes, so we're excited."