Safeguarding Democracy: CISA’s Role in Protecting Elections
Virtual Event
Following unprecedented levels of foreign interference operations during the 2016 presidential election, members of Congress and President Trump’s first administration recognized the urgent need to bolster election security. That collective effort resulted in the Department of Homeland Security designating election systems as critical infrastructure, and President Trump signing into law and establishing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
Today, and despite a history of broad bipartisan support since its inception, CISA has been dramatically downsized by the new Trump administration and funding for key cybersecurity initiatives, including the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC) and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), has been halted. This dismantling of CISA leaves our elections vulnerable and impairs a critical partnership between the federal government and state and local election officials that keeps our elections secure and safe.
We hosted an important discussion about the role that CISA plays in identifying and mitigating cyber threats and enhancing election security. “Safeguarding Democracy: CISA’s Role in Protecting Elections,” featured Kim Wyman, former Washington Secretary of State and CISA Senior Election Security Advisor, in conversation with current election officials Rob Rock, Rhode Island Deputy Secretary of State, Wesley Wilcox, Supervisor of Elections in Marion County, Florida, and Julie Wise, Director of Elections in King County, Washington.
The event was presented by Issue One and Issue One’s Faces of Democracy initiative.