Election security cutbacks force local officials to go it alone
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Election officials across the U.S. are heading into their first votes in years without the level of federal support they've come to rely on.
The big picture: Federal agencies monitored both cyber and physical threats to elections over the past decade and built trust with local election officials.
- But this year, much of that support has evaporated due to budget cuts and staffing reductions, officials tell Axios. Local election offices are left with fewer resources, less threat intelligence, and diminished federal guidance.
- "It's kind of heartbreaking to know that they worked [on] creating these relationships and partnerships over the last decade, and they're now just disintegrating," Brianna Lennon, the county clerk in Missouri's Boone County, tells Axios.
- Bloomberg reported yesterday that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's election monitoring room, which has been stood up during every election cycle to field and share information about active threats to elections, isn't operating this year.
Driving the news: Since January, the federal government has reshaped its election security strategy, scaling back efforts to combat disinformation while limiting direct support to state and local election officials.
- Earlier this year, the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), which provides real-time threat alerts to election operators, lost its federal funding.
- CISA also laid off its election-focused staff, including field workers who conducted physical and digital assessments of election systems.
- "I'm not a cybersecurity expert — I know enough of it to be able to ask the right questions, hopefully — but that expert's view is what we're missing," Lennon says.
Between the lines: Election officials are starting to look elsewhere to fill the void, says Pamela Smith, president and CEO of Verified Voting.
- Ahead of today's votes, election officials have been running their own tabletop exercises to game out threat scenarios.
- And regional networks and national associations are becoming critical backchannels for sharing threat information.
Yes, but: Smith adds that elections can remain secure despite changes in federal involvement.
- "We ran elections before there was critical infrastructure support, and we'll have elections again, even without federal support," Smith says.
Threat level: Still, Smith warns that without federal funding, many smaller election offices will struggle to afford the resources needed to secure their systems.
- Some are likely to hire workers on an as-needed basis, or simply fly blind, she adds.
The intrigue: Even as the Trump administration scales back its support for securing elections, it has sent federal monitors to polling sites in six jurisdictions across California and New Jersey to "ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law."
- Voting rights groups warn the move may be a political tactic to cast doubt on elections in Democratic-leaning areas. In response, California sent its own monitors to observe the federal players.
What's next: State and local officials are building new networks to fill the vacuum — but trust in federal partnerships may take years to repair.
- "There has been some ... damage done to the relationships between the federal, the state and local election officials," Lennon says. "That's something that can't be understated."
