Election Tech

Election officials and others in state and local government need to be on guard against a variety of attempts that could impede voters’ access to information and smooth elections. A toolkit of free resources aims to help.

The company’s new solution can scan mail-in ballot envelopes, check voter signatures against a database, reject ballots meant for another election and more. It comes amid rapid growth in mail-in voting.

Witnesses testifying in a recent congressional hearing said domestic sources are playing a strong role in driving online falsehoods that undermine faith in elections and inspire real-world violent attacks.

A newly released report by the county’s Election Security Review Committee called the security around election equipment “inadequate” and also called out the “serious problem” of threats against election workers.

Election cybersecurity is one of the hottest topics in the country today. It dominated both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, and most likely will continue to do so until state and local governments can demonstrate that their voting infrastructure and solutions are as secure and tamper-proof as possible.

Candidates running for Secretary of State in Washington state have said that they're most concerned about cybersecurity threats posed by other countries, online misinformation and election audits.

Despite a growing divide between the Democratic and Republican parties, both sides of the aisle can agree on the need for reliable voting technology and protections from bad actors heading into the next election.

The security, transparency and misinformation surrounding the state's election system have all emerged as top of mind for the candidates that are hoping to be Washington's next secretary of state.

The state has announced that a pot of as much as $8 million will be made available to local governments for the purposes of improving election security. Municipalities can expect $1,500 for each voting district.

Security concerns and the inability to provide a paper trail have all but eliminated the once-popular devices which stored votes directly on electronic memory. Ballot marking devices have largely replaced them.

Subpoenas sent this month are seeking evidence of whether election conspiracy theorists gained unauthorized access to Georgia voting equipment and copied sensitive files in Coffee County after the 2020 election.

A practice run using newly approved election technology ran into technical issues last week. Election officials say another mock vote will likely be scheduled to test adjustments made to the technology.

During a public outreach tour this week, Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs shared some of the challenges facing elections in the state. Threats facing the process include dis- and misinformation, as well as other online threats.

Election-related disinformation continues to spark real threats. Paying close attention to these online conversations can tip off local governments to serious risks, says Maricopa County, Ariz., CISO Lester Godsey.

Voters in the county have been asked to weigh in on the new voting machines that will be used in upcoming elections. Currently, only two machine vendors are certified to do business in the state.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued a report last week highlighting potential hacking vulnerabilities with the Dominion Voting Systems touchscreen voting machines used by the state.

Gov. Jared Polis this week signed into law SB22-153, which requires new security measures for election systems, and HB22-1273, which makes it a crime to threaten election officials or publish their personal information online.

Runoff election results in Tarrant County, Texas, which is home to Fort Worth, have been delayed because officials did not test new software that was installed after the machines malfunctioned in March.