Considering voter apathy and the sheer amount of noise from political ads during an election year, does a difference in election spending or donations received really matter all that much in polls between candidates? But other then massive donations, are there any other means to sway voters, and on a budget (with better ROI than Citizens United)? Tools like CryptoLockers hold people’s data hostage for money, but what about using them to defame a candidate, or forcing people to vote for a specific candidate in order to unlock their files? What if news of this type of attack entered mainstream news, how would the polls and candidates react? The cost of distribution and control of the malware over a period of a year, until the election date would be more cost effective in creating a large change in polling values in a limited timespan when activated, possibly deciding a close election. As for prevention, can we stop such an attack before it happens?