(CN) - President Barack Obama's national security advisors are considering whether to designate state election systems "critical infrastructure," making them eligible for federal resources to ensure they are secure.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest acknowledged the discussions during a news briefing Tuesday afternoon.
The FBI on Monday warned state officials to boost election security in light of evidence that hackers had targeted related data systems in two states the agency has not identified.
Federal law enforcement officials are concerned that hackers could breach state election systems and throw the November elections into chaos.
Earnest assured reporters that the decentralized nature of elections in the U.S. processes overseen by state individual governments would make it difficult for anyone, no matter how skilled, to manipulate the outcome of the upcoming contests.
Nevertheless, he said, discussions of taking steps to ensure the integrity of the elections are ongoing.
Earnest gave no indication on when a decision on the critical infrastructure designation would be made.
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