WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security is starting a new effort to combat Russian interference in next year’s elections after U.S. officials have been warning that foreign hackers may turn to ransomware to wreak havoc and sow discord.

The attacks have already crippled city computer networks, hitting municipalities large and small.

"Ransomware has the potential to disrupt elections across the country,” said Maurice Turner, a senior technologist with the Center for Democracy and Technology.

Turner warns that these attacks have the potential to cause mass chaos and confusion at the polls.

"It would probably result in much longer lines and a lot more phone calls from voters, asking where should they vote,” Turner explained.

"The challenge is that a lot of these voter registration systems have to be online 24-7, 365 days a year. Having to defend these systems all the time is a really big challenge,” he added.

The U.S. government agrees, which is why they are launching a program that intends to help state officials prevent ransomware attacks against their voting databases and infrastructure, according to a recent Reuters report.

“It’s absolutely critical that the federal government increase its focus on the vast range of cyber threats that exist,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D) Florida 7th District, a former national security specialist at the Pentagon.

Murphy has been dealing with the aftermath of these challenges after hackers were able to infiltrate voter databases in several Florida counties ahead of the 2016 election.

“We need to continue to work on this because the techniques and threats continue to evolve on a daily basis as technology evolves,” she explained.

While lawmakers are applauding officials for being proactive about these threats, some are emphasizing more must be done in Congress to ensure states’ systems don’t fall prey to cyber criminals.

“Particularly the Senate needs to act. The House has passed bipartisan bills to secure our elections and the Senate Majority Leader refuses to move them forward,” Murphy explained.

The House has already passed bills that would require voting systems to use paper ballots and would authorize millions of dollars in funding to states. However, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) has said those proposals give too much power to the federal government to regulate elections.