OPINION: Ensuring a safe election in 2024

Updated: 18 minutes ago Published: 18 minutes ago

Hundreds of thousands of Alaska residents will go to the polls this fall to cast their votes. Behind this democratic process are the countless election workers who work tirelessly throughout the year to make it possible. On election night and in the days following, election officials will tabulate, review and work to certify the election results.

I recently visited Alaska and met with the state director of elections, Carol Beecher, and her staff. This visit showed me how seriously Alaska election officials take their responsibilities and how hard they work to ensure that every vote is counted as cast.

As a former elections director in Washington State and a former local elections director, I know firsthand the incredible amount of work that goes into planning and preparing for each election. And this experience also showed me why working as a local election officer is one of the most important tasks in our country.

These poll workers are our friends and our neighbors. They’re the people you see at the grocery store or at your kid’s basketball games. Thanks to their efforts, the American people should have confidence in the security and integrity of our electoral system.

If I have learned anything from my 28 years as a poll worker, it is that voters can have confidence that their vote will be counted as cast.

Having served as an election security advisor to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) at the county, state, and now federal levels, I can safely say that I have never been more confident in the efforts our election officials are committed to that our elections remain safe and secure.

CISA serves as the lead federal government in working with election officials to protect our electoral process from a variety of physical and cyber risks. We are proud to stand alongside election officials as they face an increasingly complex threat environment. CISA is working with election officials across the state to improve the cybersecurity defenses of election infrastructure from malicious actors and reduce physical security risks to election workers and facilities.

CISA provides services such as on-site physical and cybersecurity assessments, where CISA field agents literally walk through our election offices looking for potential physical or cyber vulnerabilities and then provide options to remediate those vulnerabilities. This helps ensure the safety of our poll workers and the security of the election process overall.

In recent years, we have also seen an increase in threats and harassment against poll workers. Any threat of violence against an election official or anyone else working to protect our democracy is completely unacceptable. These officers are public service heroes. To help election officials mitigate this threat, CISA is working with election offices in Alaska to provide training on topics such as de-escalating tense situations, active shooter preparedness, and other emerging physical threats.

As part of CISA’s efforts to ensure the security of our elections, we have developed an additional campaign to help the voting community and the public. This initiative, called #Protect2024, is focused on coordinating support across the federal government, with our election partners, as well as with the private sector, nonprofits, and the American people, to help ensure the security and resilience of election infrastructure.

#Protect2024 also provides comprehensive information on disinformation tactics used by foreign adversaries and shares accurate information about election infrastructure security on our Election Security Rumor vs. Reality webpage. The Alaska Division of Elections has a dedicated Post-Election FAQ webpage to explain aspects of the Alaska election process that voters may have questions about and to reassure them about the security and accuracy of elections in Alaska. We urge everyone to contact election officials for the most accurate and up-to-date information about the election process and to remain patient while election officials complete the certification processes.

We know that bad actors are targeting our electoral process and will likely continue to do so. But the good news is that for nearly 250 years, election officials have risen to the challenge of meeting evolving threat environments to defend American democracy.

US elections remain an attractive target for both nation states and cybercriminals. Throughout the 2024 election cycle, CISA will tirelessly support election officials and private sector election infrastructure partners to address the physical, cyber, and operational security risks they face.

Please know that there are some great people here in the great state of Alaska who are working hard to ensure your vote is counted fairly and accurately. I urge you to trust the process and support these amazing people.

Lori Augino serves as election security advisor for the Federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Region 10.

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