The executive committee of an interagency council focused on election security has released a joint statement on the group’s commitment to implementing a unified and coordinated approach to the 2020 elections.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said Thursday that the statement comes after the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council (GCC) facilitated a virtual meeting on how the federal, state and local governments must prepare for Election Day.
According to the GCC executive committee, the federal government is “actively monitoring for threats” against U.S. systems including foreign disinformation campaigns. They added that intrusion detection sensors have already been deployed across the country to protect election infrastructure.
GCC also enlisted the help of cybersecurity professionals in the public and private sectors in addition to conducting a tabletop exercise with over 2,100 participants, the committee noted.
“Elections will look different this year, but we want voters to know our election community is ready and taking active measures to ensure every ballot is counted as cast,” according to the committee.
Members of the GCC executive committee include Bob Kolasky, assistant director of CISA; Benjamin Hovland, chair of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission; Paul Pate, immediate-past president of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS); Lori Augino, president of the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED); and David Stafford, Supervisor of Elections at Escambia County, Fla.
