Sinclair Broadcasting: Congress steps up election security funding, but experts warn it still falls short

Sinclair Broadcasting: Congress steps up election security funding, but experts warn it still falls short

Susannah Goodman, director of election security for Common Cause. stressed that does not necessarily mean high-tech or expensive solutions. Many of the likely consequences of an attack on election systems—machines malfunctioning, inaccurate voter registrations, loss of power—are things election administrators have faced before and can be mitigated with robust back-up plans. “We don’t need a ‘Star Wars’ sort of defense system over our election infrastructure, but we do need to support our states and counties with these funds so they can buy basic things,” she said. Even if security funding for 2020 is less than ideal, Goodman expects the threat to elections will only become more dire in years to come, so Congress will have many more opportunities to address the issue. “This isn’t going to stop,” she said. “In the 2022 elections, in the 2024 elections, we are going to face different and perhaps more sophisticated attacks... This is the way wars are fought now.”

A compromise on election security funding announced Tuesday as part of the fiscal year 2020 federal funding bill brought an end to months of tension between the House and Senate with a resolution experts say is encouraging but not entirely sufficient to guarantee the integrity of U.S. elections in 2020 and beyond.

“I do think it says something that in the midst of the partisan chaos that is Capitol Hill, they have come up with an agreement that is significant I do think it shows on both sides of the aisle, people take this seriously,” said Susannah Goodman, director of election security for Common Cause. …

It may already be too late to implement some measures that would help protect the 2020 election like replacing outdated and vulnerable voting machines and software. According to Goodman, though, there is still much states can do now with these grants that would prepare them for a possible attack on their voting systems next year.

“It’s short of what we need,” she said. “However, it can definitely help states take some very critical, basic steps to ensure that they’re resilient in the face of an attack. Those are basic things like if there is a power failure and the e-poll books go out, have they trained poll workers and printed the voter lists manually? That requires extra training, extra costs, and printing.” …

Goodman pointed to remarks made by retired Gen. John Allen in 2017 about how county government employees and election administrators are the new frontline defending America against cyber-attacks by foreign actors.

“There’s not yet a cyber cavalry system — no one’s coming over the hill to help you when your systems have been compromised,” Allen said at the time.

According to Goodman, that is still the reality local officials are up against, and they need more training to fight the battles that lie ahead.

“State election officials and county election officials get it,” she said. “They are taking this extremely seriously, but they do not have the resources they need to protect the elections in the way they should, considering there’s an ongoing attack on our election infrastructure.”…

According to Goodman, that is still the reality local officials are up against, and they need more training to fight the battles that lie ahead.

“State election officials and county election officials get it,” she said. “They are taking this extremely seriously, but they do not have the resources they need to protect the elections in the way they should, considering there’s an ongoing attack on our election infrastructure.”…

Goodman stressed that does not necessarily mean high-tech or expensive solutions. Many of the likely consequences of an attack on election systems—machines malfunctioning, inaccurate voter registrations, loss of power—are things election administrators have faced before and can be mitigated with robust back-up plans.

“We don’t need a ‘Star Wars’ sort of defense system over our election infrastructure, but we do need to support our states and counties with these funds so they can buy basic things,” she said.

Even if security funding for 2020 is less than ideal, Goodman expects the threat to elections will only become more dire in years to come, so Congress will have many more opportunities to address the issue.

“This isn’t going to stop,” she said. “In the 2022 elections, in the 2024 elections, we are going to face different and perhaps more sophisticated attacks… This is the way wars are fought now.”