hello i'm thomas hicks vice chairman of
the united states election assistance
commission
the eac is an independent bipartisan
federal agency
created by the help america vote act of
2002
to help election officials improve the
administration of elections
and help americans participate in the
voting process
we work closely with state and local
election officials
to make sure everything is in order for
voters to cast
a meaningful secure
and independent ballot by statute
our agency is responsible for
distributing federal funds to the states
including 400 million in emergency
funding last year to address election
issues
caused by the covet 19 pandemic
the agency also establishes standards
for voting technology
used in our elections in february
we issued a new set of standards for
voting systems
that will pave the way for the next
generation of voting systems
across the country i have more on that
later
our agency also maintains the national
voter registration form
and finally we serve as the
clearinghouse for best practices
for state and local authorities to
consult about election operations
other federal agencies also play a role
in the u.s
election system the federal
elections commission has oversight of
the nation's campaign finance laws
the money in politics and how those laws
apply to candidates
and committees many other agencies
are also involved even if their
statutory mandate
is not solely focused on elections
you may be familiar with the cyber
security and infrastructure security
agency
cisa which plays a key role in securing
our elections infrastructure
for both foreign and domestic intrusions
and the us postal service has recently
been the focus of absentee
and vote by mail ethics during the
pandemic
with that level of complexity it's easy
to see how the electorate could fall
victim to simple misinformation
and how bad actors can introduce more
malicious
information through any one of those
points of entry
among our most important lessons from
the 2020 election
was a tragic reality that those threats
can stem not only from foreign enemies
but also from within
at the same time by its very nature
the decentralization system limits
intrusions
because any large-scale efforts would
require targeting
the separate states and local
jurisdictions
at the county and local level
by partnering across federal state and
local governments
and with robust support from industry
civic organizations nonprofits and
academia
we carried out one of the most secure
elections
in american history and continue to
improve operations
to secure continued success
and the road to repairing this damage
remains long
and but i hope the ideas
you share and the connections you make
gives everyone here the opportunity to
think strategically
about protecting our elections
to be sure miss and disinformation
succeed
in casting doubt about this fact
but what do we learn and how do we
respond
at the broadest level we learn that
online missing disinformation
pose a threat to the elections process
and it's incumbent upon
government institutions at every level
to make sure voters and potential voters
have accurate information it also
requires vigilance
by the platforms where myths and
disinformation appear
to be honest gatekeepers finally
individuals have to be responsible for
the information they consume
that means on the web voters and the
public
should look for verified and trusted
source labels
voters can and should refer to resources
directly
from local and state election boards
this is especially important for voters
checking their registration status
and confirming if their if their
information is correct
and a response to the recent executive
order issued by president biden in march
we are digitally working alongside the
general service administration
to modernize and improve the user
experience
of bug.gov where voters can find
information they need to participate in
the democratic process
beyond this our agency as well as the
rest of the election infrastructure
established numerous safeguards to
monitor
and engage vote future threats to our
systems
in january of 2017 dhs gave the critical
infrastructure designation
to our election systems this designation
is given to systems and assets
whose incapacity or destruction will
threaten the country's physical
or economic security the designation
allows the eoc
to participate in the government
coordinating council which provides for
interagency
and intergovernment coordination it
includes representatives across federal
state local
tribal and territorial governments
a sector coordinating council also
serves as the counterpart
to the gcc for partners in industry and
manufacturing
the councils proved highly important as
covert restrictions started last flame
with about half of the state still
needing to conduct at primary elections
the resources the gcc compiled proved
highly useful for election officials
the eac also launched several
initiatives
to support cybersecurity efforts at
state and local level
the cyber access and security program
provides
resources like security training best
practices
expertise and other assistance for
election officials tasked with
protecting
critical elections infrastructure
last year we helped provide election
officials with online cyber security
training
through a partnership with the center
for tech and civic life
ctcl to date over 1 000
people have taken the training from 46
states
dc and three territories
and this training remains available for
free through september for anyone
interested in attending
the eic also launched the risk
management and crisis management online
workshop
for state and territorial election
officials
and the eoc hosted a joint cisa online
risk management tool
on our website allowing officials at the
local level
to easily measure and mitigate risk to
the specific
environments leading up to the election
in june 2020 the eac also
announced its partnership with the
center for internet security
to pilot a technological verification
program
focused on non-voting collection
technology
including electronic poll books election
night reporting websites
and electronic ballot delivery systems
for the eac every discussion about
election technology
begins with our core statutory
obligation
the voluntary voting system guidelines
the vbsg are set as specific and
requirements
against which voting systems can be
tested
to determine if the system meets
requirement standards
the eac first adult did bvsg
in december 2005. this past february
we unanimously voted to approve vbsg 2.0
pbsg 2.0 is a major step
forward to ensure the next generation of
building equipment
is more secure accessible and
it ensures a better voting experience
for all americans
election security has been a major topic
and focus
during these efforts and i'm proud that
the vbst 2.0
includes provisions to ensure we have
more paper ballots
and built-in support for election
officials to conduct
more effective post-election audits
even more than ever without sacrificing
the mandate that those with disabilities
can still vote independently and
privately
these gains along with many others
benefits
to accessibility security and usability
that come with a 15-year technological
week forward
all are part of what makes the update so
critical this version reflects
the push and pull of various policy
considerations but
ultimately represents reasonable
compromise
that puts the agency in a good position
allows manufacturers to build their
requirements
and gives labs clear guidance to test
and certify those machines
and positions the eac for considering
enhancements in the future
this brings us to the issue of elections
post covent
and the new systems and technologies
that are being adopted across the united
states
according to the brennan center 25
states have passed
54 laws that lower barriers to voting
by adopting election practices that were
employed in 2020
in response to the pandemic those
permanent
fixes include more early voting options
like longer periods or additional days
for in-person voting
more valid drop-off locations adoption
of no excuse absentee ballot requests in
addition
two states vermont and nevada elections
will be conducted
entirely by mail joining the five states
that adopted all male 1
bournemouth prior to 2020
states have also adopted new procedures
to minimize the rejection of male
ballots
by allowing voters the opportunity to
cure any defects or to verify their
signatures
through ballot tracking technology some
states and localities
are even allowing voters to follow the
progress of their ballots to ensure that
it counts
and on the front end states have
simplified and expanded voter
registration
for example some states modify or struck
laws for giving voting for
preventing felons from voting
others expanded registration 17 year
olds who are eligible to vote
upon turning 18. finally a number of
states adopted new technology to allow
for accessibility providing
remote options for voters with
disabilities
today more than 20 states in the
district of columbia
offer electronic ballot delivery
changing long-standing election
practices procedures
and systems is no small order
in many cases this may require
legislative action
and in 2020 governors and state
legislatures
across the country acted quickly to
adapt election
administration procedures to meet eight
health
and safety guidelines beyond those
formalities
are more practical considerations like
the timing of the introduction
of those changes the implementation and
ongoing monitoring and the need for
voter education
for changes to an implementation of
new technology there is further
consideration about balancing
efficiency accessibility and security
in the eac's capacity as a clearinghouse
for best practices
election officials can turn to our
agency for guidance about how and when
implementing election systems practices
in their jurisdiction as one example
let's talk about electronic poll books
or e-pull books
these are voter registration lists that
have been digitized
to check voter eligibility at the polls
in 2018 more than one quarter of
jurisdictions used
equal books this was an increase of more
than 50 percent
in 2014
36 statements 36 states use equal books
in at least one jurisdiction seven
states use equal books in
all local jurisdictions equal books have
some ignorant security concerns
thousands of evil books can be deployed
in a jurisdiction during an election
they may be networked to other equal
books
or an equal book central server or a
voter registration database
people books contain personal
identification
information bii including name address
and age
in some circumstances other data
includes driver license numbers
and voter signatures they are
potentially
the target of attacks by nefarious
actors that could cause potential
fully placed delays turn away photos
or modify or delete voter registration
data
often personnel with minimal security
training
are also entrusted with operating these
equal books
this part is our effort to guard against
potential
these potential security scenarios
the eac will create a program manual
that will describe key elements such as
requirements
and responsibilities for participating
in the program
requirements will be developed and
published similar to the vvsg
but with a narrower scope they will
focus on unique aspects of the pullbucks
related to security usability and
accessibility
testing will be conducted by eac
accredited voting system
test labs pistols test plan reports
and relevant attachments will be posted
on the eac's website
and it will include typical system
configuration
information like software versions
hardware used
and hashes it will be voluntary
and manufacturers participation is
necessary for it to be successful
states can help if they start requiring
the uac evaluation
in some instances states may still need
to provide testing to ensure
interoperability with their specific
systems
it must be agile we don't want to cause
too much
we don't want it to cause too much
additional overhead
in terms of time or cost currently labs
take approximately one to two months to
evaluate
we believe that this turnaround can be
shortened through standardization
we also want to support the ability for
manufacturers direct
to rapidly iterate to have their systems
evaluated the standards would need to be
kept
up to date depending on how the
specifics and requirements are
the standards need to be updated
frequently
could be yearly or less for election
officials
the convenience and efficiency of using
equal books must be weighed against
potential security threats
that's because this data must be stored
somewhere and many officials
increasingly rely
on crowd services from amazon or
microsoft for example
to manage these systems unfortunately
those systems are vulnerable to cyber
security threats
as the 2016 election demonstrated
foreign hazards attempted to penetrate
the voter registration databases for
several states
by some meeting accounts they were
successful with at least one of those
states being penetrated
similarly security measures are
implemented
officials may inadvertently raise
barriers for voters with disabilities
so there is a need to protect against
trading accessibility
for security our goal is to do both
then there are public education piece
that voters with
the information to help them navigate
new systems and technology
maybe even more importantly this
education component
about making sure that the public
understands any new system of technology
is not only convenient but also reliable
and secure
for example ebooks of equal books have
made it
easier for jurisdictions to adopt the
use of vote centers
these are often larger more centralized
polling locations
that combine several precincts or vote a
contested ballot
equal books allow vote centers to more
easily access information
about voters across multiple
jurisdictions with more ease
than consulting traditional registration
lists on paper
during the pandemic both centers played
an important role in protecting
both election workers and voters because
in some instances
they were in larger settings like sports
stadiums that allowed for proper
social distancing when used for early
voting
vote centers allow voters to cast a
ballot ahead
of the election day and avoid
traditional longer lines
at a time of uncertainty about the
pandemic and the protective measures
needed to prevent infection
election workers worked with their
municipalities professional sports
leagues
and the media to inform voters about
using vote centers
to stay safe and to provide reassurance
that their votes would count i'll end
here
but i look forward to the conversation
and the collaborations that stem from
deathcon this year
thank you