Election Security: 2020 & Beyond (S1E20)

Despite COVID, the 2020 elections have been a resounding success. This is a discussion with several of the participants – everyone from election officials in Florida and New York to federal leaders whose job is to assist the local people in charge of the election.

There seems to be two main lessons learned during the discussion. One, locals should get as much information and help from federal sources before the election. Two, dedicated, hardworking local election professionals can produce valid results in a pressure cooker environment.

It looks like successful election officials took advantage of some of the available federal funding. How much? Benjamin Hovland, Chairman, U.S. Election Assistance Commission indicated that his agency “distributed $800 million to the states.” Benjamin likes to say he runs a small agency with a big mission.

Another source of information is CISA. One of the participants in the discussion, Geoff Hale, Director of Election Security Initiative, CISA, said that they have no-cost cybersecurity assessments, planning, risk mitigation guidance, training, and exercises.

With all the eyes of the world on this election, it makes sense that some poll workers were overwhelmed. “And our election-day turnout was so severely reduced that my poll workers were a little terrified of what was going on,” Paul Lux, Supervisor of Elections, Okaloosa County, FL.

Nationally known cybersecurity expert Sean Frazier, Federal Chief Security Officer, Okta, gives a great summary when he says, “adopt a security mindset from day one, bake cybersecurity into your DNA, every time you put out a new application, have a holistic approach to security.”

To view this webinar: Election Security: 2020 & Beyond.

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