Election Security: Protecting the Foundation of Democracy – Infrastructure Integrity

Administering elections falls on the shoulders of state and territorial governments. It is not surprising, then, that there are so many different approaches, technologies, and processes in place to handle election security infrastructure. The problems that befall election infrastructure are many, varied, and often well publicized. In Maricopa County, Ariz., ballots were too lightly printed to be read by scanners during the 2022 midterms. Multnomah County, Ore., had to reprint ballots for a May 2023 election after a proofing error. In Northampton County, Penn., a programming error caused touchscreens and printouts to show different votes in November 2023. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recognizes election infrastructure as critical infrastructure. CISA designates both the physical assets (voting systems, storage facilities, and polling places, for example) and cyber assets, such as voter registration databases and related systems, as requiring protection.