Transcripts For CSPAN2 Election Officials Testify About Threats Election Security 20220722

Eeon Homeland Security will be in order. Without objection the chair is authorized todeclare the committee in recess at any point. Good morning. Free and Fair Elections are the bedrock of our democracy. R as we learned just over 18 months ago democracy is not something we can take for granted. We must defend it fiercely and protect the institutions that uphold it. So i commend chairman thompson for allowing this important hearing on the threats to our election. But i would first eligible to vote in 2006 election offices across the country were in the process of facing infrastructure to defend against the greatest threat to elections in recent history, the notorious hanging chad. Social media was new and largely a way for Young College kids to connect. Our adversaries have not figured out how to weapon eyes are freedom of speech or technological ingenuity. Notion that a large crowd would descend upon the capital, disrupt the peaceful transfer of power would have been beyond anyones wildest imaginations. And the last of lasting Elections Bureau to alter and elections vote was something io relegated to developing democracies in decline. Eg the 2006 election ushered in a new era of threats to our democracy. The russian government targeted election infrastructure and exploited social media to spread conspiracy theories to tip the scales in favor of one candidate and more devastatingly to sow doubt among the public about the integrity of our democratic institutions. Committee democrats recognized the Urgent National Security Threat the russian government had created and established an Election Security task force with members of the House Administration committee to better understand the threats to elections and half to mitigate against them. Unfortunately we did not get bipartisan support to implement the taskforces recommendation and efforts to connect them into law have languished. In the meantime our adversaries redouble their efforts to sow division among us and some desperate politicians latched onto the big lie and other s. Conspiracy. As a result three days after i was born into my first term violent mob formed the Capital Holding democracy hostage. Outside washington officials themselves victims of harassment and rest in a way that weve never seen before. As a result election offices across the country are struggling to retain a trained staff, exacerbating the existing challenges associated with administering the 2022 midterm elections. When we were sworn in as on members of this chamber , we took an oath to protect and defend the constitution and the democratic principles enshrined in it. It is incumbent upon all of us to understand the evolving threats to our elections and to defend against them. I look forward to the testimony today and i thank our witnesses for their participation. Before i recognized the Ranking Member on behalf of chairman thompson and the members of the committee i would like to welcome congresswoman myra florez of texas to the panel. We look forward to working with you on important matters for this committee. The chair recognizes the Ranking Member committee for an Opening Statement. Mister chairman used to live under because i was going to welcome myra florez as well. For this committee in particular given her proximity and her expertise it will definitely be a valuable asset for holding this hearing today and i appreciate our witnesses to discuss how we can Work Together physically protect our state and local Election Officials while also securing election e infrastructure from foreign interference and Cyber Threats. The Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency is charged with being the lead security industry. We look forward to our witnesses perspectives as well as the tools provided by cisa to shore up our election cyber defenses. They come along way for sure. Our committee remains committed to securing our elections from albrecht putting the School Threats from election workers. Following the 2020 president ial election 850 incidents of threats targeting election workers. Issues such as these will not be tolerated and should be dealt with by local law d enforcement. In recent years foreign adversaries like russia and achina have targeted us elections through election interference. Foreign actors seek to undermine our elections both directly by tampering with our electionsystems and indirectly attempting to influence how people think about an election. Let me be clear. The United States will not allow an adversary to so distrust or chaos in our elections process. In addition to these efforts our nation is seen as Insider Threats across all 16 ic Critical Infrastructure sectors and the election Infrastructure Sector is no exception. Simply being vigilant is no longer enough. Todays cyber threat environment demands a posture of unwavering resilience. As commander of the 2022 elections we must keep a keen eye on the midterms and ensure voters can be confident their votes will be cast securely. Given the volume and sophistication of the Cyber Threats we face we must empower cisa with the resources it needs to support our Election Officials so that they can carry out their mission to administer free and Fair Elections. Cisas mission has evolved since election infrastructure was designated as a subsector of our nations ethical infrastructure in 2017. Cisa has gone to Great Lengths to build relationships with state and Election Officials and has provided free and voluntary Cyber Security tools and other guidance in all 50 states. A key part of securing election infrastructure that is owned and operated by state and local governments, n not the federal government is ensuring that cisa has the ability to provide Situational Awareness about volatility in our digital footprints. Im pleased we are joined by secretary larose who serves as the state chief election officer. The secretary spent years working to ensure i hope ohios elections are secure and was named legislator of the year by the Iowa Association of Election Officials for his work to improve the States Election process. I look forward to hearing from the secretary and all our witnesses about the practical meaningful steps congress can take to improve cisas ability to support our officials and protect the security of our elections. Cyber security is indeed a team sport and now is the time to double down protecting all of them requires partnerships throughout all levels of government and across party lines. Working together we can be prepared not only for the threats of today but the risks of tomorrow and beforei close briefly i want to give you one quick story. Several years ago we had an Election Security task force in Central New York and we n have the Elections Officials from the counties in my district and one woman told me she received 1762 directed directives from Election Security task force in one year. She shares her chief Information Security officer with twentysomething other agencies in her county and no ones digesting that information. Thats one of the big concerns i have hadone of the things we need to tackle Going Forward is how we make actionable information where getting from the experts and thats something i want to hear from the other Witnesses Today and with that mister chair i yelled back. Other tsmembers of the committee are reminded that under Committee Rules Opening Statements may be submitted for the record and was also reminded the committee will operate according to the guidelines laid out by the chairman and Ranking Member in our february 3, 2021 colloquy regarding remote proceedings. I now welcome our panel of witnesses. Our first witness the honorable Maggie Toulouse oliver has served as secretary of state of new mexico since 2016. From 2007 till 2016 secretary Toulouse Oliver served as county clerk of Bernalillo County where she oversaw elections in the states largest county. Secretary Toulouse Oliver was past president of the National Association of secretaries of state. Whour second witness mister neil kelleys current chairman of the committee for safe and secure elections. Mister kelly retired from serving as chief election official the registrar of voters for Orange County california, a role he held for 17 years. Mister kelly is past member of the Voting System standards board, a past Founding Member of the Election Security task force, Government Coordinating Council and a number of other organizations aimed at making elections more secure. Our third witness Miss Elizabeth howard is senior counsel for elections at the Brennan Center nyu school of law. Prior to joining the Brennan Center she served as Deputy Commissioner for the virginia a department of elections and for over 10 years coordinated many modernization projects including the adoption of online lists the patients which received a 2017 innovation in American Government bright ideas award from the ash center for democratic governance and he innovation at the Harvard Kennedy school. Our final witness the honorable frank larose has served as secretary of state of ohio since 2019. Prior research to terms of the state senate and was the legislator of the year in 2016 by the association of Election Officials. In recognition of his support and commitment to improving ohios election process. Without objection the witnesses. Will be included in the record. The chair asks each witness to summarize their statements for five minutes beginning with secretary Toulouse Oliver. Thank you mister chairman and members of the committee. I am pleased to be here today with these distinguished colleagues. My name is Maggie Toulouse oliver and i serve as new mexicos secretary of state archie elections official. Election administration in l. The United States is conducted at the state county and local level i Civil Servants come to work every day to do their duty keeping engine are our democracy running. This work is not glamorous but it is vital to how we elect our leaders andorganize our way of life. Since 2020 however lies and misinformation about how elections are run and about the people who run them have proliferated to an unprecedented degree. Among a significant portion of the country the continuous drumbeat of lies has created an atmosphere of stress in our elections and our elElection Officials. Many people now believe our countrys highest office is occupied by an illegitimate illegitimate represident. Many peoplebelieve our entire infrastructure is corrupted , has been westernized to atexclude one Political Party. Many people now believe that Election Administration practices that serve to increase access and security like secure about drop boxes, airgap vote counting systems, but by mail and ministerial certification of Election Results to name only a few are part of a vast conspiracy to undermine our demand american way of life. Think these things are not true and no one has ever produced a shred of credible evidence to support these conspiratorial claims. As the consequences of these lies have realworld impact for Election Officials. For people who believe their government is corrupt iand their leaders are not t legitimate threats of physical violence and acts of intimidation have unfortunately begun to seem like an acceptable response. In rnew mexico the conspiracies about voting in election systems have a portion of the electorate and cause peopleto take action. During that during the election cycle i had to leave my home for weeks under state police protection. My office has since had to utilize services for me and members of my staff and prevent docs and by removing personal identifying information from the internet. Since 2020 my office hasseen an uptick in social media trolling , brief emails and calls and other communications and misinformation circulating in the National Discourse but more recently since our june 2022 primary elections my office has experienced prints serious enough to be referred to Law Enforcement. As recently as june three threatening phone calls against me were referred to our Fbi Field Office for investigation. These threats came on the heels of my offices effort to combat election misinformation elthrough a new website and shortly after a nationally publicized information in otero county where the county commission initially refused to certify the primary elections. My office then had to seek a court order to compel them to perform their duty underlaw. Selling desktop about our elections so as either apathy or indignation of which will have detrimental effects on our entire system of government. They Election Officials that are elections depend on fear that threats coupled with the general the trail online and directed on all aspects are our auction cost so much threats and uncertainty that they will not want to do the work anymore. We seen this happening in many parts of the country. Where voters fear that a flood of misinformation would compel them to lose more and more trust and they will no longer participate. I believe both federal and t nstate laws enforcement agencies are taking these threats seriously and diligently. We must show that threats against Election Officials will not be tolerated. I hope my testimony is helpful and im happy to answer any questions. Chair recognizes mister kelly to summarize the statementsfor five minutes. Mister kelly. Good morning chairman torres, Ranking Member and members of the committee on Homeland Security. Thank you for the invitation to speak at this important hearing you bring my elections twere going to try you again. Were coming for you. There will be blood on the balance and blood on you. These are just a small example of the threats and harassment Election Officials have experienced including myself in recent elections. We also know many Election Officials in addition to personal threats have also endured threats against their family. As a result of coming elections are not very appealing to those that run them. Avmany have left theprofession. The impact is widespread. And while we affect on individuals are devastating the potentialload to democracy should not be dismissed. Throughout my testimony i talk about the need to engage Law Enforcement in election planning process. Or however i must make clear i am not advocating for the presence of armed officers at polling places. This is a sensitive issue and one that should be handled with the seriousness it deserves. I believe there are ways to address these growing plants while remaining fast in our resolve to recognize that the mere presence of Law Enforcement and the polls can be viewed as intimidation. There are steps that can take. Hewhile serving the chief election official act established a Task Force Made up of dhs, the fbi, our state and local Law Enforcement officers and our district attorneys. Olcombining my experience as a former Police Officer wework collaboratively long before our election to plan for specific responses. This included local plainclothes investigators, prepositioned in the field, reviews of all voting locations and intelligence gathering. When faced with agitated observers in 2020 the coordinated response was swift and effective. Amid these growing threats i believe we should not lose sight elections are Critical Infrastructure as mentioned by Ranking Member which ishas established to support and protect the mechanics of running elections. The protection of our nations workers, voters, physical locations, Ballot Counting Centers and Voting Systems which are part of the backbone of our democracy should be a priority. I like to try to read the neil here. I feel it is important to highlight the right to comment on elections to be a part of the process and engage with local Election Administrators. I believe in the fundamental to rights the First Amendment affords our citizens to challenge the outcome of an election h. Transparency goes handinhand with a fully audited accurate and fair election. These are not mutually exclusive. Nevertheless as an election official you know when that line has been crossed. When asked of violence, threats to ones family, threats to the infrastructure, interference or intimidation begins to emerge in the entire process is at risk. Over the past several months the group of elected officials and Law Enforcement personnel have been meeting to address the protections of the Public Servants who supervise our elections from intimidation, threats and violence. Recently organized this committee for safe and secure elections of which i am the chair i mentioned at the outset is a group of chief of police, elected sheriffs and former Election Officials nationwide coming together to close the gap between Law Enforcement and Election Administration. Reading tool and developing solutions to combat this problem as resources, guys training for Law Enforcement and Election Officials, creating tools to build relationships among Partner Agencies and looking at potential policies that might help reduce the risk. I dont want to leave this important topic without noting we must continue to do work to reduce voters lack of confidence. Which can exacerbate the issues we are discussing today. For instance Election Officials should continue to expand on it, partner with prosecutors on any violations of election law and improve the Voter Experience which will continue to build trust and confidence among voters. This of course will not change all hearts and minds but this is a journey without the finish line. Congress can greatly affect states and counties with these growing threats by raising awareness n, increasing funding to enhance physical security of election officers , and associated infrastructure and supporting collaboration among Election Officials and Law Enforcement partners when needed and most appropriate. Finally enclosing our institutes of democracy are under attack and while many officials are resilient , it is stretching their capacity to operate while being threatened. I dont mean to overstate this but the important act of running fair and accurate elections is what holds of fragile democracy together. We just want someone to have our backs. Thank you and i lookforward to your questions. Thank you for your testimony. The chairrecognizes Mister Howard to summarize her statement for five minutes. Thank you Ranking Member. For the opportunity to speak with you today about the everchanging Election Security landscape and one of the biggest concerns kofacing our elections today. Threats against Election Officials. As you know in 2017 date and local Election Officials were somewhat suddenly informed about the threats against our election infrastructure foreign enemies such as russia and ran and about the types of attacks they were now responsible forprotecting our election infrastructure against. Despite being underfunded and under resourced our Election Officials are rising to the challenge and just five years later there has been a remarkable improvement in the resiliency of ourelection infrastructure. Today Election Officials need Cyber Security as a critical component of planning for safe and secure e elections, new and more secure voting is been deployed across many states and counties. Election officials have developed and practiced plans to respond to various Cyber Threats such as rent somewhere and many officials have taken other important steps you are there systems against cyber attacks. This significant shift would not have happened without the federal Financial Support specifically designated for Election Security that congress has provided starting in 2018. And the federal partners including the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency and Us Election Assistance Commission that have worked closely with our Election Officials over the past five years. Also critical to the significant improvement that we see today are the Elections Committee leaders who have lead by example including the three other witnesses on todays panel ohio secretary of state larose has long been a pioneer on the Cyber Security election front moving to secure ohios election infrastructure against attacks and establishing some of the first statewide standards in the country. New mexico secretary of ewstate Toulouse Oliver has also served as an important Election Security leader. He was one of the first to quickly distribute the initial tranche of federal Election Security funding that was most in need in her state , county Election Officials. Neil kelley who has an election official was responsible for administering elections published one of the first practical Election Security resources for officials. 2018 Election Security playbook. And while we are now on the right track to secure our election infrastructure against cyber attack new and different threats, many with domestic routes have risen including threats of physical harm to ourElection Officials , their families and their staff. You will often pay for your remarks. We will take you out. F you, if your family, your life. Watch your back. Threats like that left as a voicemail for republican Election Officials in michigan were received by Election Officials across the a country after the 2020 election and continue today. Not surprisingly these threats are leading to additional serious concerns such as an Alarming Number of Election Officials leavingthe profession which are computing to the fragility of s our democracy. Si they needed your help to protect our technology Election Officials now need your help to keep them their families and their staff say. And the Brennan Center in2020 election official survey we found that more than three fourths of Election Officials believe that threats against them had increased in recent years. More than half were concerned about the safety of their colleagues and one in six Election Officials have been threatened. Effective mitigation strategies will require tackling not only the stress but also the barrage of false information about our Election Administration and are Election Officials that is fueling the threats. Of Course Congress alone g cannot eliminate these esproblems. Proper response will require a whole Society Approach and we all have a role to play. However congress can play a primary role in tackling these issues and spurring on others to do their part. For example congress should authorize specifically for physical Safety Training and for security enhancements to Election Officials residences. Congress should also work pa with a number of federal departments and agencies to ensure they are effectively working to protect our Election Officials including the department of Homeland Security and justice. As i detailed in my written testimony. Thank you again for your estime and i look forward toyour questions. Thank you for your testimony. The chair recognizes secretary lelarose to summarize his statement for five minutes. Thank you so much chairman torres and really all the members ofthe house Homeland Security committee. I have my opportunity to submit my testimony on the security of elections first let me set the scene. 2021. May 4 its primary election day in ohio and an individual has plugged and offer unauthorized laptop into a Government Network at the lake county administrative building. He was engaging in some sort of effort to capture election data presumably is was he was going to discover or download some sort of election information to prove that Election Results can be impacted by an outside influence. Im happy to report that person failed and he failed miserably. Why . Simply because we were prepared. When i served as an Army Green Beret in the special forces we learned tonever let our guard down. Our lives were a constant churn of study andpreparation and execution. After all the bad guys only had to be right once. We had to be right every single day. When i was elected secretary of state i took that same mindset and adaptedit to how we operate in ohio st. In fact we made it our standard. How do we stop this perpetrator on primary election day in 2021 . It started in 2019. When i issued our first ever security directive for all of ohios 88 county was a checklist. I called it our preflight checklist for the president ial elections. It was a 34 point checklist of physical and Cyber Security requirements designed with one purpose. To keep the bad guys out. Ill be honest, when i first announced these requirements at a meeting of our board of elections there was a grown in the audience and even laughter in the back but i was asking a lot of them and many thought it wasnt possible but our elections are too important and begin sit onour hands and hope things are going to be okay. We have to take action and thats what our county boards of elections did. From the most populous and sophisticated county boards of elections in our state to ththe most rural county boards that have been really administering elections the same way for generations all roll up their sleeves and in concert with the Security Professionals in our office they got it done. Thats why ohios bipartisan teams of elections professionals in my opinion are truly the best in the business. When this individual loved his laptop into a lake county administrative building what did he access. Simply nothing. First of all every county board of elections Computer System has long been a load off from every other county office so anyone thinking they could use a county Computer System in one county office to somehow infiltrate the county board of elections would find theywould run into an impenetrable brick wall. Second even if they had somehow gotten into the board of elections building and plugged into their network they would have immediately been blocked the cause that computer would have been recognized as an offer unauthorized user on the network. Again, game over. These are two out of dozens of improvements we made our county boards of elections. Naturally when we talk about Cyber Security, were talking primarily about those elements of election infrastructure which are of course connected to the internet. Were talking about email, websites, polling location without functions. Online Voter Registration all convenient that voters want to have access to but its important to emphasize voting equipment is never connected to the internet. Theres an entire separate parallel set of election infrastructure that is never connected to the internet. Simply anything that touches a ballot can never be connected to the internet. Thats tabulators, all of which are very strictly aircraft. Since our first directive weve issued two more. Again we can never get complacent or rest on our laurels with the most recent one announced, we thought it our security directive 3. 0. As the tactics of our enemies change and evil we must do the same. Is why we cant and we wont rest. A Security Strategy in our county board of elections is necessary to provide the redundancy required for a strong election system infrastructure. We also know that our elections are only as successful as the people who run them in 2020 we recruited a small army of dedicated patriots, republicans and democrats to serve as poll workers in the face of uncertainty amid the start of the pandemic we had a record 86,789 ohioans who were trained and ready to serve their communities and they provided secure accurate and asked successful elections, the ones which ohio voters after the course become accustomed. In light of thepandemic we knew we had to get creative about whole worker recruitment and thats what we did. We worked with a whole array professionals all sorts of different demographics to patriotic ohioans to help us s administer an incredibly challenging election. In doing so we stood up also an army of Truth Tellers who could speak firsthand about the lengths to which ohio goes to ensure the integrity of our elections. We cant put a price on that. Integrity matters. Thats what our elections are built on. Thomas jefferson put it successfully. If the governor could conclude. Government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed and the only way we convey that is through free and Fair Elections andr thats what we will continue to deliver in ohio. I think the witnesses for their testimony. The chair reminds each member of your seat she will have five minutes to questionthe witnesses. I will recognize myself for questions. Miss howard threats to Election Security very widely in the United States. Theres the threat of a cyber attack on election infrastructure, the threat of influence operations that radicalize people with disinformation and then theres the threat of violence and intimidation against Election Officials themselves. With all these threats which one in your view has the greatest likelihood of endangering electionsecurity in the 20 20 congressional midterm elections . 2022, i apologize. Thank you for the question. Right now one of my biggest concern has to do with threats against Election Officials. Not just because of the threat against Election Officials but because of the cascading effect that results from these threats to Election Officials. What were seeing across the country are Election Officials who are deciding to ar leave the profession. For example 5 out of arizonas 15 counties now have new election directors this cycle. Six of georgias most populous counties have new election directors. This creates the potential for more disinformation because the people taking the retiring Election Officials place are not going to have the same experience. Theyre not going to know as much and theyre not going to be as prepared as those who had several years of experience who were running election in their state and county. To combat ever going threat of mal information. How did you know that one in six Election Officials have been the target of threats. S. We heard from secretary oliver and mister kelly they themselves have been the targets of threats and we know former president trumps narrative of a stolen election inspired to stop the steel language which led to the insurrection on january 6. My question is for mister kelly and secretary oliver to what extent they on your experience on the words and ideas of former President Donald Trump at fault for s creating this unprecedented hostile environment against electionofficials . Thank you mister chairman for the question. I will say this although these types of discourse were amplified in 2020 i heard them before. He collected 2018 in Orange County there was a number of similar threats and issues that arose when Congressional District went from red to blue. We received very similar public statements from local elected officials so is not just at the National Level it can happen at the local level , we see that its not just the battleground states. It is across the country. So while i think its had an effect ive seen it before. Secretary oliver. Thank you mister chairman. I certainly agree with my colleagues this kelly. But as you noted in my introduction ive been an election official at the state and local level for almost 16 years so in every single election we see rumors that we see misinformation. Typically once we as Election Officials are able to clarify any questions about how the elections conducted and provide the public or accusers with information those rumors tend to be around. Unfortunately we are still on a daily basis in my state and across the Country Living at with the reverberating effects of the big lie from 2020. The recent activities that happened in my state where we almost failed to certify an entire counties worth of votes in a primary election are a direct result of that rhetoric. And as we all know when it comes to leadership what you say from the very highest salons of government power in the country have those reverberating effects and so yes mister chairman, they are impactful and they continue to be impactful on a uedaily basis. Miss howard the Doj Task Force aimed at confronting threats against election workers, its received well over 1000 reports of threats but has always secured all one conviction which creates the question why only one conviction. Is the issue one of law esand is the institution protective of election workers or is it one of enforcement . The task force has taken important steps and clearly what theyve done is not enough. We have a couple of recommendations is typically for the Doj Task Force. We think that they need to expand the task force to include and local Law Enforcement. As our Brennan Center survey shows almost 9 out of 10 Election Officials have been threatened reported those threats not to federal officials but to their local Law Enforcement. Doj needs to bring them to the table to help combat this serious threat. Before i conclude using federal law sufficiently protectedelection workers . I think there are improvements to be made. I would now recognize the gentleman from new york, the ranking number 45 minutes. Again i want to recognize miss florez. Welcome to the committeeand welcome to congress. Mister larose, i spoke in my Opening Statement at the end about my concern about the local Election Officials to digest a vast amount of Election Security information and i want to ask you briefly can you tell me what you think about what we can do to make that more digestible for locals . The information is no the security, the locals cannot digest it. Thank you so much Ranking Member and it reminds me of my time in the military with where we had a saying that it rolls downhill because somebodys bright idea that top ultimately comes to down to a sergeant or private at have to implement it and theres a lot they have to deal with other than those directions that are coming from the headquarters him where. Weve tried to be knowledgeable about that when we deal with our countyboards of elections. I have to do that in order to coordinate the board of elections but its important to remember that they are the folks on the ground doing the implementing of all of these things youre telling them to do and also that means that are focused on a variety of different things. We need to recognize our boards of elections reflect the great diversity of our country. I have boards of elections that are two people that work in the basement. Their dutiful but its just them to run a county board of elections. Ive got county board of elections that are hundred 50 people with a large sophisticated staff so its important for us to remember the men andndwomen on the ground. These Bipartisan Group doing the work of running elections. K we cant throw too much at them. I understand the problem. And again its us being mindful. It means that myself as a state administrator, the other 49 that do this work need to be knowledgeable about what were telling them to do but it also means we need to be careful , you all need to be careful about not sending down directives for passing laws that would create federal standards that may be unattainable as well. One of the other things that far too many times the funding that comes is appreciated but there are so many Strings Attached that the work it takes to comply with all the different standards attached to that funding makes the dollars much less useful because you spend so much time filling up the forms to justify how youre spendingthe dollars. Thank you for the question. I would say that the concerns that youre raising are the opposite end of the spectrum of the concerns when i was an election official in 2017 and ntthe beginning of 2018 when w were receiving sufficient information. But from 0 to 60. Exactly right. I do think federal officials and cisa fish officials in particular recognize theyre trying to calibrate the quality of information being provided to our local Election Officials. Cisa representatives at multiple meetings ive attended proactively ask for feedback about again, the quantity and quality of f the content they are receiving. I think this is an ongoing work thats required and they need to continue to listen to the election official community about what is helpful and what is not. Thank you very much and miss oliver, i understand your threats and i your testimony about personal threats against election workers but i appreciate the candid testimony of Mister Kelley and i think we need to keep that in mind Going Forward. Election security is generated it seems to me from the internet and ability to hide behind the internet and formant discontent online. Thats one of my concerns so if any of you want to address that Mister Kelley, maybe want to address how we can better try and find and anticipate the threats before theyhappen. And hthats finding the proverbial needle in the haystack butwhat do you think . Thank you Ranking Member, its a great question and work ive done with our local lawenforcement in Orange County went a long way with ethat because the intelligence gathering on the ground is important and identifying individuals on social media that might bespreading this information or misinformation but not only that , may have represented potential signs that they could be triggered into some sort of violent act or something along the lines of threats. And i think that intelligence gathering is critical to reducing the risk of harm. Ideal back mister chairman. I will now recognize the gentleman from rhode island for five minutes. Thank you mister chairman. Very good. Thank you for holding this hearing and i want to thank our witnesses for their testimony. As you all know theres no such thing as perfect Cyber Security. Ive said that many times myself including in our electionsystems. We should expect that will be discussed within our election infrastructure yet this climate of rampant disinformation and outrageous lies about election insecurity i do fear that the responsible disclosure of an implementation of election infrastructure is becoming more and more challenging. So not all vulnerabilities are equal in severity or ease. But the their very existence could be manipulated to undermine Public Confidence in the integrity of election infrastructure and by consequence the outcome of an election itself. Though to all of our witnesses, how our state and local Election Officials thinking about communicating to the public about Cyber Security older abilities and election systems in a way that preserves trust in those systems but also how can elements of the federal government such as cisa lend their support and are there opportunities here for congressional action that will address these challenges . Congressman, ill start i suppose if i may. In ohio we were the first state in the country to implement whats called a vulnerability disclosure policy. We were the good guys, the white hat hackers. We findwherever we had a vulnerability and let them know about it. Its resulted in dozens of fixes. We found were whereour errors were and fix them. One thing i struggled with and had wanted maybe some more help from the federal government on his being able to share our successes. When things go wrong public generally will know about it quickly if we havent always been able to share our successes and the public should know when we had a day where the good guys one and the bad guys lost a. Often times that means as quickly as possible d classifying what can be declassified without course jeopardizing sources but giving us the chance to tell the stories of where we t stopped the bad guys is something i like to be able to do more of. Thank you. Next. Mister chairman, i agree exactly with what my colleague from ohio just said. I will say that when i first came into the secretary of States Office in late 2016 obviously we had just gone through an election where many Election Officials across the country were not aware of what the federal government was aware of and i think theres been a ttremendous amount of work done along working with cisa and chs. The work that governing coordinating council has done to find out what is the right balance. Obviously we want to be aware as soon as possible as the Election Officials of any potential vulnerability. We want to address them immediately. We need that information yesterday, not tomorrow. I feel like the federal government has done a much better job quickly d classifying or relaying appropriate directives to our offices. Were getting so much better about sharing that information with each other it is the delicate balance because we want to make sure once weve identified a vulnerability that we have a plan to fix it, to fix it quickly that it is going to get the job done. A lot of the work we do is that very careful balance. We need to make the public aware, thats incredibly important but we also need to make sure we have those plans in place. As a former secretary of state i see these challenges you all have. Let me shift before my time has expired. Ms. Howard, if i could in your testimony you noted that despite federal efforts to make Grant Funding for programs such as these available for Election Security none of these funds have yet been used for Election Officials and in at least one state already has the jagged funding denied. Could you and other witnesses with your insights here speak to some of the difficulties Election Officials are experiencing in the application process and is it more that the department can do to help get this money out and if so is there an opportunity forcongressional action . Yes, there are now available to elected officials are homeland grant Security Program funds. Just recently the department of Homeland Security reinstated electionsecurity as a priority however , that prioritization was not a company with a minimum standard of those grants on Election Security and what Election Officials are seeing and are concerned about is the fact that their needs are going to be the prioritize. These funds are not new and many of the. Im going to have to interrupt you because youre 30 seconds over. I like to recommend recognize the gentleman from mississippi for five minutes, my apologies. Thank you mister chairman. Secretary larose, our constitution gives individual states the right to conduct their own elections. This is a central pillar of our government that federal authorities i believe must not infringe upon. So my question very broad in nature is what can congress do to make sure that we are providing a secure election system without direct interference from the federal government or the process that i believe that our Founding Fathers rightly intended to becontrolled at a local and castate level . Thank you for the question congressman. I should say i enjoy working with your secretary of state throughour National Association. Youre right. There are 50 different ways of running elections that decentralize the nature of the way we run elections is not a bug, its a feature in the way american auctions are organized and it goes back to our founding. As youre well aware of the federal government has ro resources that states candidly do not have and thats laughing its important to continue providing those resources. Cisa is one great example of that. I found it to be a positive working relationship that we have with them and to resist the temptation of course to tanker. For the federal government to start intervening and telling states how to run elections. Its good for states to develop best practices and share those with other state. Ive worked to share some of the things we do in ohio so other states can learn from them because we been under the National Spotlight for years but for the federal government to start mandating this way states run elections is a bridge too far. I would say humbly to helping us do our jobs better in instead of telling us how to do them. You did mention about a federal mandate. Inflation introduced in the house passed out two of those things toand two things i found troubling, one is that we do away with voter identification. Its an attempt to cast their votes and would also require sameday Voter Registration. I know thats my state of mississippi and also requires voters to present id when they are assuming in person voting but can you talk about the importance of having individuals to make sure they are registered for the election and then also the importance of voter id and the integrity process in making sure that elections are fair and that individuals trust the outcome of those elections. Thank you congressman. Its about finding that balance. I reject this notion that somehow you have to choose from either convenient elections or secure elections. I think thats a false choice n. In ohio we have elections that are convenient and secure. It is easy to vote and it is hard to achieve. Iknow thats the case in many other states as well that these are policies that work in our state. The makeup of our state may not work in other states and other geographies. For example as you mentioned our state constitution requires people to registerto vote 30 days before the election. I think it would be a bad thing for the federal government to ignore what our state constitution mandates in Voter Registration. Proving of voter is who they say they are is an important thing and we do that in ohio through mandatory voter id. If you dont have it you can produce alternative forms of voter identificationbecause we dont want to leave anyone out. I saw in your testimony looks like on page seven of your written testimony you talk about the need for there to be funding for security upgrade on the homes of election workers. Kind of curious as to who that would include, possible funding mechanisms, cost that would be associated. Are you talking about election commissioners or poll workers . Who wouldld be eligible to be a security upgrade . Thank you so much for the question. As you heard earlier in opening remarks she had to leave her home. Im aware of other Election Officials who have had to leave their home andec im aware of Election Officials who that local Law Enforcement do assessment of the physical security at the homes when theyre under threat. Some of these elected officials simply cannot afford to make the recommended security enhancements to their homes. I think certainly this should at minimum coverage Election Officials so the primary Election Officials at the local level responsible for administering our election. Thank you, ms. Howard. I yield back. I would have recognized the general met from new jersey mr. Payne for five minutes the gentleman. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you for holding this hearing and to the Ranking Member, thank you very much. Mr. Kelley, in your testimony you said after 2016 dhs enhanced its relationships e and local elected officials on cybersecurity but they have not been as much engagement in the physical security. Has that changed since 2020, the 2020 election and how can dhs better partner with state and local governments on physical security concerns and enhanced information sharing . Thank you for the question. I will say i believe it has improved. I want to give public props to dhs because i took advantage of their services that they had to offer. Its like a shopping cart of services. That goes a long way to increasing the physical security of our buildings and the physical security of our vote centers. I will say im seeing more of that being done across the country by my colleagues and has been the case in 2016. Dhs continues to roll out additional products and services that are think are very valuable for use, so thank you. Thank you. This is for all the witnesses. In mrs. Howard testimony she explain many Election Officials are leaving their position because of threats, potentially leaving elections to be run by an experienced workers. For all witnesses, can you elaborate on the value of experience election workers . Whar if we are forced to rely on inexperienced work west workforce . Anyone can start. I would be happy to start with that. We recognize how important experience is. When i came into this office, i created a mentorship or grammar new Election Officials department with someone from a similar that mentorship has been a Great Program in ohio. Many people are benefiting from it. We have had challenges in routing and retaining those officials. That is a big deal. Beyond that, it is the burnout of the constant turn of the work they are having to deal with. I would add that as i continue to professionalize, there will be additional retention. They will have resources they can rely upon. I think we will see more retention. Please mute. I would add that the typical local election official the reality is these jobs are unrelenting. Our Election Officials, unlike many of us, do not have the luxury of that. Regardless of a loved one being sick. I will note that he was in the hospital with covid. He continued working. Because there is no brakes when you are an election official. We need to help support them. Fully staff their offices. I think the witnesses for their answers. I yield back. I will now recognize the gentleman from North Carolina. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I think all elected officials and everybody the country ought to condemn threats. Even the profane kind of vehemence directed against Election Officials and everybody else. We have seen in recent we the same kind of invective and threats and assassination attempts against United States Supreme Court justices. We had the controversy last year with the department of justice. A memorandum about nationwide activities. That turned out to be not so many threats. Maybe we have not seen that type of reaction. Perhaps we should. We have not seen people condemned. That should be said across the board. Let me ask you quickly, do you agree with that . Yes, i think Political Violence is a problem. And other officials, wouldnt you agree . Yes, sir. I noted a few weeks ago that the wisconsin Supreme Court held that ballot prop boxes are illegal under state law. You spoke about the reasons for distrust. You attribute them to the big lie. That has a lot of currency. There is no recourse for it. But isnt proven by implication that ballots cast in wisconsin by absentee top box dropbox were illegal . Thank you for the question. I cannot speak to the ends and outs of the specific legality. What i can tell you is in states like mine, where we have 24 hour monitored systems that are permissible other state law, we do not see the level of concern and frankly the alleged fraud that has been level against other election systems. I am not trying to attribute one of the other. Im just trying to say, there are a variety of things that contribute to an atmosphere of this post about the election area one of which is allegations leveled that things were done illegally in certain races. I am using the wisconsin case as an example. That turns out to be validated by a later holding by the Supreme Court. I think the challenge is that if we continue to litigate election law after an election has been certified and people have been installed in office, i think this is one of the challenges we are dealing with. Whether wisconsin can continue to use those, that is up to the youth wisconsin Supreme Court. It does not affect the election. I think the elections done, there is done, theres no point in relitigating it. You cant. But the determination of that was illegal has some implications. It is a shared responsibility. That me ask quickly, in North Carolina we have a situation where a partisan board of elections advocated for that when it was litigated in North Carolina. They just voted to kick the green party off the ballot. They did a over an issue concerning signatures. They said they refused to verified signatures on ballot applications. Doesnt that sort of be inconsistent and breed mistrust . The rejection of a party from a it, doesnt that undermine trust in elections and Election Officials . Time has expired but please answer as concisely as you can. Thank you for the question. I do not have the details through that. I can get back to you with information. I want to submit an article from the carolina journal. Without objection. I will now recognize the gentleman from new york. Thank you. Good morning to everyone. Thank you to all of our witnesses for joining us today. To discuss changing the Election Security plan. I was like to offer my well wishes to our chairman and the gentleman from mississippi. We wish him a speedy recovery. A full and complete recovery. We hope to see him soon. I think i think the chairman and the ranking official to for calling this meeting. These are concerns we have raised for a number of years. The importance of addressing this now has only been underscored by the excellent work done by the generally sixth select committee. It is of paramount importance. How effective are these programs on physical Election Security . What additional assistance would be most beneficial to you and individuals in your capacity . How can the role be expanded . So they can strengthen physical Election Security . Thank you, congresswoman. I want to say that this is incredible. Primarily on the cybersecurity front. I know in most other states across the nation they also take advantage of the physical security tools and resources that are being provided. The very first piece of that puzzle is to conduct these assessments. We have been working together in my state to conduct that assessment. Without assessing the situation, we do not know exactly what we need. Like everything we have been doing on the siegrist ready front and the physical security front, as we go through elections and continue to see what we need and what circumstances we are dealing with, we have been able to sell it and adapt and improve the resources that are available to us. I do not have a specific recommendation at this point. Other than we should continue that work. As has already been mentioned, funding is critical. Elections are critical. In a state like mine, a little bit goes a long way to be able to secure our election environment. Is there anything you would like to add . I will keep it brief. I agree with what you have set about the services. I have a 200,000 squarefoot campus i am responsible for. The one thing i would add is that the use of the same assessment would be very critical and important. Thank you both. In your testimony you asked for congress to fund efforts to develop and conduct online Safety Training. Can you elaborate on how you see this Program Operating . Election officials personal information is often Available Online area since there are consultants who can teach how to protect against those. They can go out of proactively assist Election Officials with taking down the information and scrubbing it. Putting together a training that they can implement on their own is a step in the right direction. I will now recognize the gentlewoman from iowa. I think our witnesses and Ranking Member for conducting this hearing. We have seen record numbers of people show up at the polls to vote absentee. We are finding that peoples confidence in the election does affect their willingness to come out and vote. It is an extraordinarily important topic. We recently confronted the challenge of nongovernmental agencies spreading election this information. They sent information that confused voters. It has been done with information. Accurate information out to the people of ohio. This concern first came to us from our county board of elections in a bipartisan way. They were getting concerned phone calls from voters saying they received multiple forms that were addressed to people who did not live at that residence for many years or were deceased. The real problem with these organizations as they were using bad data. There is nothing wrong with getting voting registration forms out or getting absentee ballot request forms out. We allow that in ohio. The problem is these organizations did shoddy work. It really confused voters. If they want to engage in some kind of absentee ballot request, work with us to make sure you have good data and youre using the right kinds of forms. We know voter rolls are not claim to that point. Iowa is facing a shortage of election workers. Do you believe this is a threat to your States Election integrity . What can you do to help face these challenges . To the last question, we work really hard at that. That is part of the real problem. It is like hygiene. Brushing your teeth. You have to do it every day. We have implemented all of the creative programs. We have really worked hard on poll worker recruitment. Since we have many to staff. Thank you for that. After the 2016 election, we have heard part of this already on the other witnesses. Officials felt frustrated by the lack of coordination of the federal government by not providing enough details. The fbi change their policies regarding incident notification. Some have previously expressed the need for reporting of cyber incidents. Can you briefly discuss why this may be necessary . We need to know thing so we can act quickly. That is the bottom line and it comes to protecting. Time is always of the essence. In most cases they are immediately notified. The county board of elections needs to know. There is always room to continue. A notification on a friday night or saturday morning will result in action right then. That is why these things are so timely. Thank you. That includes our Election Officials. Thank you so much for your testimony. I yield the rest of my time. I will now recognize the gentlewoman from new jersey. Thank you to the witnesses. I hope you are sharing information. With the rest of the secretaries of state. In such a way that they benefit from some of this information. These are issues we seem to be hearing about in other places. What do we need to do to be able to recruit poll workers, new election officers . How do we ensure to them that they will always be safe and supported . What does the federal government need to do . Either on election day or in offices in general. Thank you. First and foremost, he is one of our most active partners at the National Level. We do share both best practices. I think we have seen some of that from dhs. And other Law Enforcement partners. Election officials at all levels , that is a national ready. It needs to continue to get louder. Using all the platforms that the American Government has available to it. In terms of recruitment, when i grew up, serving as a poll official, that was a typically considered civic duty. A sense of community was installed. I think we mightve got away from that. The more we can do that at all levels of government to send the message that being a part of the election process, particularly if you are someone who has questions or concerns about the integrity of our process, is a wonderful way to be a public citizen. And also make sure that our elections have integrity. Thank you. People want to know about the resources that are necessary. The productions protections that need to exist locally. So that election workers and poll workers have a system that has their back. So they are recognizing that, particularly in this next election. Thank you so much for the question. I would highlight that work. And other organizations that are working closely with state and local Law Enforcement. So that Election Officials can address many of the concerns that you highlighted. I would also say that Election Officials have reported struggling to access some of the federal grant funds that are available for Election Security. We talked about the Homeland Security grant program. It was recently reinstated as a priority area. However, unlike other priority areas, there has not been that on Election Security. It is a similar issue. Those funds are available to help better protect Election Officials. There is no minimum to spend on Election Security. What many have reported is they are struggling to obtain access for a variety of reasons. The notification of when they are identified. And other issues. We believe that requiring a minimum for Election Security will alleviate many of those can turn and will help get federal funding to officials who need it. Thank you. I yield back. I will now recognize the gentlewoman from tennessee. Thank you to the witnesses for being here today. I do have a question. Not every state did as well as ohio. You spoke about your security. What you did to protect elections in ohio. Absolutely. This builds on our Second Security directive. This is a 31 point checklist. We are giving them a few months to get it down. We put a strict new standard in place. That could harm the integrity of their process. Better vulnerability and disclosure for our vendors. So they can leverage that. And prohibiting election equipment. That is on the restricted list with the federal government. These are just some of the things we are doing. You can talk about several other items as well area like better vulnerability scans that are put in place. Those are the highlights. Tell me about that vulnerability scan. I read that. Tell me how it worked. What we are doing now is requiring the board of elections to lead to the vulnerability scanners inside the door. It is like a home in action. If you are buying a new home in the home inspector can only look at the outset of the home, they will find some new things. But if you actually let them into the basement and let them go into the attic, that is when they are really going to find if the house is in good shape or not area this new vulnerability scan that we are required to report brings the folks who are doing that inside. They can get inside the systems and really take a deeper look. It makes sense to me. You talk about Cyber Security efforts. Tell me a little bit about what you are doing in ohio. It looks like you are requiring elected officials to include cybersecurity in their contract. That is how we enforce it with vendors. In many cases, these are boilerplate contract that have been used for many years. If you cannot abide by those terms, you cannot contract with the county elections. That is just another step that we are taking to make sure that these vendors can meet the cybersecurity standards that we set for boards. I heard about these things when i went to nashville and talked to the legislators in the early part of the year. With the dominion machines. They caught that because more people showed up to both than there were voting. There are measures in every state and every county. To make sure there is question about the integrity. That 31 point checklist was to make sure we were doing that in tennessee. I know my county went to paper ballots this year. That ensures state elections, in my opinion. I thank you for that. I will yield that, mr. Chairman. I will now recognize the gentlewoman from florida. Thank you so much, mr. Chairman. To all of our witnesses, everyone of you, thank you for your testimony today. Also thank you for what youre willing to do and what has proven to be unbelievably challenging circumstances. Thank you for protecting our democracy. We all should know that regardless of what state youre in, every person deserves to be able to cast their vote and have their vote counted. You said you are a former lawenforcement enforcement officer. I have also heard that you are a farm former Army Green Beret. We thank you for that service. But i hope that is not the criteria this day for elections. Your testimony has been so valuable. But it has been painful. You talked about the level of threat. Crazy, unbelievable threats. They have an amplified after 2020. As a former lawenforcement officer who had a chance to interact with a lot of election workers, i have never heard the stories during my time that i have heard cents. You said the threats have been amplified. I think that is such a politically correct way of saying that. I would like to hear from you again in that particular area. Amplified in 2020. You have seen it before. That is what you have said. Could you just talk a little bit about what you have seen both or . Compared to after that . Thank you, congresswoman. In my experience, and almost 15 years of overseeing elections, i think every elected official at every level in this country knows what it is to have someone harass you, make a general threats against you. People get fixated on Election Officials. Sometimes there are concerns about our personal safety. I dont know a single election official who has not gone through Something Like that. In my experience, the level of but trail in the specificity of threats and having my personal information docs doxxed, those are things i have never experienced. I would say it has been amplified. Thank you so much. Thank you for the job you are doing in ohio area my experience is slightly more limited. I have only been the second area state since 2019. There have been a lot of folks who have gotten emotionally exercised about Election Administration. We talked to officials last year. Of course pull up elections are political. But an Election Administration must not be. Lets stop politicizing that. Thank you you for the question. I dont ever recall receiving a threat just for doing my job. For many Election Officials, that is just not that reality today. They are receiving death threats. You are not advocating for armed officers. They are advocating for their own personal safety. Working to protect the integrity of our elections. Thank you for the question. I think it is a great one. Issues can be a real threat. Officers on the ground are not familiar with that. Awareness is very critical. We had Police Officers respond to some scenes. We were not aware that there were criminal violation. The time has expired. I will route now recognize for five minutes the gentlewoman from texas. Welcome to the committee. Thank you. Thank you for holding this hearing today. Our country has a record high of voter turnout. We most ensure those who are voting are legally permitted to do so. Making it easy to vote and hard to cheat. I want to thank all of the poll watchers and our Election Officials for all the work they do. We must condemn all threats against our Election Officials. I know it is like to be there. I cannot imagine what they are going route. I believe we must provide them with this so they can do their job more effectively read some people say hispanic americans do not know how to use the internet. I can speak firsthand about both willingness and the capacity of my community and the Hispanic Community around the country to make their voices heard. Border security, voter security, it is a National Security and i am thankful to all the witnesses for taking the time to speak with us here this morning. If i may ask mr kelly, thank you for being here this morning. Can you talk about the physical safety of election workers and officials specifically in Orange County . Thank you very much for the question. And yes maam, i absolutely can. I think vote Center Employees as we call them in Orange County or poll workers, the safety and security of them is paramount in what we do in every election. There are a number of things that we can do to increase the protections for instance, plainclothes officers in the field ready to respond very quickly to incidents at polling places, training that can help our vote Center Supervisors deescalate issues is very important, but i can tell you that we were focused on security for those votes Center Locations and our poll workers and keeping them a priority because they are the backbone of how we operate and its very important that we protect them. Thank you. Secretary larose, thank you for being here this morning. I know it has been i know it has been talked about already this morning, but can you go further into details about the organizations such as the Voter Participation center sending out false information. What steps is your Office Taking to stop this and other groups from spreading misinformation . Yeah, thank you so much congresswoman, appreciate the question. As i was starting to say earlier. Its really about public information. The voters deserve to know where their trusted source for elections information is. Thats why were constantly promoting, go to the official dot gov website that your secretary of state or your county board of elections operates in our case, its vote ohio. Gov. Thats where we want people to make sure that theyre getting their trusted source of Accurate Information. But as it relates to to false information in general, listen, the best antidote to lies is truth and lots of it. And so we work to make sure that ohioans have access to that Accurate Information. We partner with Community Organizations from the Diverse Communities throughout ohio to make sure that we get Accurate Information out there. Social media is another one. And so these are all part of the efforts that really every secretary of state engages in so that voters know how to vote. And they know that they can trust their vote in the Buckeye State at least, and thats something that were proud of. Thank you for your testimony. I yield my time back. Thank you. I will now recognize the gentleman from new jersey, mr malinowski for five minutes. Thank you, mr chairman, thanks to all of our witnesses for the work that you do. I want to start with you, mr larose and say at the outset, i was very impressed by your testimony and by the work that you are doing in ohio to protect the physical integrity of our elections, but also then to defend the integrity of our elections against all of the misinformation thats out there. That said, it seems weve still got a very, very big problem in terms of public perception. When Something Like 40 of americans believe that the 2020 election was stolen, about 6070 of republicans. I saw a poll that suggested in ohio 62 of republican primary voters in 2022 believed that the 2020 election was stolen. I trust you agree with me thats a very dangerous phenomenon. I mean, if i were to believe that a president ial election was stolen, i would be losing faith in my democracy and the system of government in our country. Clearly that is the root cause of the threats of violence that many nonpartisan Election Officials across the country are are facing. So, i guess my question for you is what, what more needs to be done . What should elected officials , responsible leaders in our country be doing to address that false belief out there and to restore the confidence of all americans in that our elections have integrity. Well, thank you, congressman and, and you know, in some ways, i guess i find the Silver Lining to every cloud. The fact is that folks are interested in this topic right now at a level they wouldnt normally be. And so i view this as an opportunity to educate people about the safeguards that exist. And to make sure that that information is available in all parts of our state. Ill give you a couple examples. Weve worked with our county boards of elections and had them set up booths at their county fair where people can come and vote on their favorite deep fried fair food or whatever. Thats just the hook to get people to come over because when they do, theyll see a voting machine and they may be inclined to say, well, hey, is this the one with the secret foreign algorithm in it . And instead of laughing at that person, its a chance to engage with them and now teach them that the Voting Machines are never connected to the internet. Theyre tested before each election audited after each election, etcetera. Weve worked with again, the Diverse Communities from throughout the state to help empower those Community Leaders to be sources of Accurate Information about Election Integrity. And you know what weve put out the challenge. If you believe that there are big problems in our elections, sign up to be a poll worker, put your money where your mouth is spend the long day of doing this , work. What we found is that when people do that, they come out of the experience saying, you know what elections are run honestly and reported accurately. Those are just a few ideas and those are things that were doing here in. In ohio, thank you. Thank you so much. And you know, im sure you also agree just very simply all of us as Public Officials just need to tell the truth about our elections because when we dont, it encourages our constituents to lose confidence. Miss oliver, uh, you know, weve heard a lot about what happened in new mexico and i assume that a lot of the lies and misinformation that that led to those threats were spreading on the internet on social media platforms. I often say that the big lie is the virus, but facebook is the wind. And its not just that these things appear on the internet, its that the large Online Platforms do write these algorithms that that basically connect every Single Person with a propensity to believe in conspiracy theories with conspiracy theories. If youre on the right, it will push you further, right . If youre on the left, it will push you further left. The these Companies Design their networks in a way that encourages the spread of information that makes us angry at each other. That increases our divisions from one another. Um, so i see you nodding. So i assume something that, that you agree with. We are a number of us are working in congress on legislation that would hold these social media platforms more accountable for the way in which they amplify and recommend information to the American People to to deal with these kinds of threats. Is that something that you think would be helpful . Absolutely, congressman, thank you. I think thats a worthy effort and i think you know, just among my secretary of state colleagues, uh, you know, i think we all share that concern right . Both the mis and disinformation from the right and the mis and disinformation from the left. And in fact what we know for a fact when we all started heavily engaging in this cybersecurity work about five years ago um was that, you know, foreign entities particularly russia, iran, et cetera were taking advantage of those divisions. I have to interject, i apologize for i want to recognize the gentleman from texas for five minutes. Mr. Fluker. Thank you, mr. Chair and thank you to all the witnesses for your time today. Nothing is more important in a secure election with integrity. We are and we should be setting the standard the Gold Standard around the world secretary larose, you talked about how you stopped the perpetrator in 2021 and how that work really began in 2019 with good preparation and i think thats key. So what are what actions or states or the federal government currently not taking right now that prevent us and protect any threats in the future to 4, 5, 6 years from now . Thank you, congressman. Of course the threats constantly emerging. The bad guys are are always coming up with creative new ways to do things. And thats why we cant one step that all states should take that weve taken in. In ohio is that your chief elections officer should have a cisoa. A chief Information Security officer, somebody who focuses solely on that work of cybersecurity. You should have a vulnerability disclosure policy if you dont already, if theres a hole in your offense, you need to know about it. And the vulnerability disclosure policy is a way to do just that. Um again, there are a lot of other things like albert sensors that are available from our partners with dhs. If you dont have those at your county boards of elections, you should do that. That allows for that remote monitoring. So again, if something goes wrong on a saturday morning or a friday night in the middle of the weekend, you can know about it before everybody comes back to work on monday and you can mitigate the problem right then and there, those are just a few of the steps. But again, its about constantly its about constantly monitoring emerging threats and thats why our partnership with cisa is so crucial. Well, thank you for taking those steps and ensuring that we do have faith in the system and whether its real or perceived, we have to get to a point where we have faith in our election system, miss oliver. Its disturbing to read, thank you for your 16 years of work. And its really disturbing to hear your testimony, to read about the doxing, to hear about the threats that should never happen. And we should all as elected officials and as was eloquently mentioned, condemn that and im interested to hear, you know, not just how that made you feel, but how does it make you feel to now see Supreme Court justices being doxed and groups encouraging people to go to restaurants and intimidate those individuals. Thank you, congressman. You know, violence has no place in our democracy, threats of violence and harassment, really undermine our democracy and and frankly it doesnt matter which party, what what level of public official. I think were seeing this become more prevalent. And so thats deeply concerning because as it becomes more prevalent, more individuals who may be inclined to engage in such behavior are looking at these examples and saying, well, if these folks are doing it, we should engage in that too. It might push folks over the edge to engage, it has no place in democracy period, no matter who were talking about. Youre right. Its very disturbing to see those that will not condemn those actions that wont hold people accountable for trying to use the force, the threat of force or any sort of intimidation and disturbing to hear your testimony. Thank you very much. Mr. Kelly. Im interested in your thoughts on you know, just the verification and knowing who is who, running a good election system and understanding and how important it is to verify whos voting. Do you believe that its should be a requirement to verify those who are voting in your elections . And would you like to see that centralized at the federal level . Thank you, congressman, for the question. Of course. I was operating under California Law which did not allow for identification to be presented in person. And so as an election official i can kind of see the value in that in terms of showing your i. D. Just like when you fly on an aircraft, probably wouldnt be a bad idea to show at a polling place but thats above my pay grade and a policy discussion that Election Officials shouldnt be making. Well. Mr. Kelly. I think its incumbent upon all of us. I mean this is a good hearing for us to come together as experts in the field. You guys as experts us asking the questions but you know i find it hard to believe. I mean those that are getting into the capital, they most likely have to provide an i. D. To get into the Capitol Building to verify who they are and yet in states, you know if were not able to verify, i think your Voice Matters and and i would say its its actually um you know, not above your pay grade, you are the expert in this and and need to be you know advocating for those policies. So i think its i find it hard to to look at some of the federal policies and proposals that are coming forward um to to say that we maybe dont need to have an idea. We dont need to show who we are. We dont need to prove that the system and give what my colleague on the other side of the aisle just said, which is the perception of a good system that has integrity and character. I know im past my time. So thank you to all the witnesses, with that mr chairman, i yield back. I will now recognize the gentleman from michigan mr. Meyer for five minutes. Thank you, mr. Chair, and thank you to our witnesses who are here today. I think something that has come up in a lot of the questions and testimonies that public trust and confidence in our elections is essential. And i think what we also saw in the 2020 election that that hinges strongly on having quick and accurate results. The longer it takes for results to be reported, the more time that is spent on that count. It allows the room for doubt disinformation and conspiracy theories to multiply that then further degrades public faith in our elections secretary larose, you know, there are several steps that stakes can take to states can take to make sure those Election Results reported quickly and accurately, including the pre processing of absentee ballots, encouraging early in person voting if someone is not present to vote in person on election day. Can you describe what steps ohio has taken to make sure that your Election Results can be reported as quickly and accurately as possible . And are there other actions that you have taken to improve the timeliness and accuracy of Election Results . Yeah, congressman, thank you for the question. I wrote a Mission Statement on my chief of staffs dry erase summer of 2020 and i said when ohioans go to bed on Election Night, they will know and they will believe the results of the 2020 president ial election. We accomplished both of those missions. Its about logistics and and preparation. Its about making sure that you have the procedures in place to quickly tabulate, but to never sacrifice accuracy for speed. Thats the balance that weve struck here in ohio. And one of the reasons why we were able to report our results on Election Night is that we process our absentee ballots ahead of time. I know your state doesnt do that candidly. Its something that you all should look at because we dont count ballots until the polls are closed on Election Night. But we do process them ahead of time. We check the identification heck even taking them out of their envelopes and flattening them out so theyre ready to go through the scanner, thats a process that takes a while. And those are the kind of things that we do in ohio to make sure that we can deliver those results on election. And also again, that decentralized nature of how this is done, its done at 88 different county boards of elections and making sure that they have the tools necessary to get that job done has been one of our top priorities. I think the phrase in the army for that would be slow and steady, smooth, as fast. Very good, yes sir. Do you have any issues establishing and implementing those processes and and as you look to other states and as you travel around, you talk to other secretaries of state, um you know, our other states well equipped or or well suited to adopt similar best practices, or are there resource constraints along these lines that may require federal support . You know, the thing is if youve seen the way one state runs elections, then youve seen the way one state runs elections. Right. Theyre all different. And so a lot of those would require changes at the state level, but now is the time to do that well in advance of the next president ial election. And so if your state has laws that prevent the boards of elections from being able to process absentee ballots and get them ready to go and count them immediately as soon as the polls close, then thats something that you should look at. As far as constraints on resources. Some of this stuff isnt expensive to give you an example. In 2020 we directed our county boards of elections to consider spending some of their have a money or cares act money on a simple 1000 machine that cuts open envelopes are rural boards have been using the old slicer to cut it open. Its just a process improvement. Like 1,000 envelope slicing machine can be a big improvement, but yes, federal support is important and weve used it well here in ohio. And one last thing when we um were going into the 2020 elections in michigan and and obviously with large number of absentee ballots, there was, im not tracking how other states were dealing with us at the judicial level, but we temporarily had a judicial opinion that ballots could be received after the time polls closed so long as they were postmarked, you know, by the date of the election. Now weve seen similar processes like that in california in new , california, in new york. We have colleagues here in the house who had to wait several months in order to learn whether or not they had won or lost their primary in some elections or or general election as well. Can you speak to just what you have seen in terms i guess if you could just remark on that, i know i have 30 seconds left so we just love your quick thoughts. Some of the worst things that happen in Elections Administration happened as a result of crisis opportunism at the things that go wrong. Elections generally arent some sort of cloak and dagger secretive operation. It happens in the plain light of day in a courtroom and those kind of last minute decisions are very problematic. Election law should be made at the state house. Never at the courthouse. Thank you, i yield back. The chair now recognizes the gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Van drew. Thank you, mr chairman, and Ranking Member and thank you for the witnesses for testifying today before Committee Miss committee. Ms. Howard, and your testimony, you assert that the loss of Election Administration expertise and experience is likely to spur further disinformation and in and use a michigan countys mistakes in the 2020 election as an example of why having informed and knowledgeable Election Officials is so very crucial. I agree with you that in order for your people to have faith in elections and for elections to occur smoothly, we need to have Election Officials who are willing and able to correctly do their jobs. Its important. I also believe that people need to have confidence in their technology and in their equipment that is used to count their votes. You made one mention of dominion, and these dominion Voting Machines in your testimony, but did not elaborate on the distrust in those machines. Its important to ensure that Election Officials are using the very best Technology Available and possible. Just last month, cisa published a report which highlighted issues with dominions technology. With one concern being that the authentication mechanism used is susceptible to forgery. Thats just unacceptable. We cannot live with that. We need Election Integrity. In addition to having qualified Election Officials, do you think its important to have machines and software that are secure and not susceptible to forgery. That is my first question. My next question is in my district there were thousands upon thousands of people who received multiple ballots in the mail, alex were people who used to live at that residence, ballots for people who used to pass who passed away. The list goes on and on. Id like to know what you feel about that new jersey carelessly sent out millions of live ballots to people who did not request them, which rightfully caused great concern among south jersey voters. Its no surprise that voters worry and wonder about the validity of voting. Do you think that states are sending out millions of unsolicited ballots which are often drawn from outdated voter rolls . And do you think that in any way it could possibly promote Election Security. So those are my two questions and i thank you for your time. Thank you so much for your questions. So first ill say that no system is 100 secure. In the Election Security sphere, we are all endeavoring to make our election systems more resilient. The three main prongs of the may i interrupt for a second, sorry to do that e. When you say paper ballots, do you mean paper backup . Or actually that you prefer a paper Ballot System period. Paper Ballot System, period. Okay. And youre going to explain why. Voting on paper ballots insurers in the event there are any questions about the accuracy of elections you can go back to the record, the voter voted on and check and confirm the accuracy of theevev outcome thats been reported. T you saw postelection audits conducted across the country after the 2021 election and 2022 primaries and you will see more and more audits conducted after the 2022 midterms. So to your second question, mistakes happen in elections. No election is perfect but Election Officials have a number of safeguards built in to all the processes and all the cycles in our election system. So they have safeguards built into Voter Registration process, safeguards built into the absentee ballots voting process. Safeguards s implemented on election day. So even in the event of mistakes or errors these safeguards are put in to protect the integrity of our elections and ensure no ineligible voters can cast a ballot. I know i only have a couple seconds. The gentlemens time is up. Thank you very much. I will now recognize the gentlewoman from nevada on this titus for fiveminutes. Thank you mister chairman. I want to join chairman danny thompson, hope hes doing okay. We heard all the testimony and i agree with it Election Security is constantly evolving to our whole democratic process. The environment changes from one cycle to the next. In 2016 we were primarily concerned about russian interference. Then in 2020 was the former president s big lie that was the biggest threat to elections and now during the 2022, we need to look at whats is in the political environment that can again threaten our elections and i believe those domestic threats are the most serious that we need to worry. Last month i wrote a letter to secretary mayorkas and many members of the committee signed on about the increased threats and the result of the Supreme Courts decision to overturn the right to abortion. I cited an analysis from Southern Nevada Counterterrorism Center that found Domestic Violence extremists motivated by the heightened political environment could threaten our midterm elections and the report predicted that the threats would increase against our election workers and in fact in 2019 a number of attacks in the us against abortion providers more than double and im afraid our elections will bear the brunt of that m in the coming months and that our election coworkers could be the targets as well. I would ask secretary oliver if hes taken any steps to protect elections in new mexico against this heightened threat environment and how this committee could work with dhs to navigate this threatening environment for our elections as we move towards it. Iq congresswoman. We are and let me say this. All of these potential threats that you just cited on the cyber front resulting from continued unhappiness with the outcome of the 20 20 election, in 2020 of course we were dealing with some unrest across the country and so response to the dobbs , potentially we could see similar things so to answer your question we very much are working closely with not only are federal but local Law Enforcement officers. We meet with them regularly and set up virtual d situation rooms in the lead up to election day to monitor not just the cyber environment to ensure it is secure but the physical environment of our polling places beand any place where voting activity or ballot processing activity is going on around the state. We continue to learn more so we continue to develop more plans for how to deal with that more effectively as each election passes. You are doing a job and some of the rest of us could learn from you as regards to best practices. Any one thing you can recommend that we ought to go home and talk to our own elections departments . One great thing that were doing in new mexico is we formed a partnership with our new mexico state national guard. There Cyber Task Force works on site with us during the election process as well weve added additional eyes and ears and expertise to monitor our Cyber Department to ensure the state and its been a wonderful department, i recommend it in every state. Thank you so much, i i yield back. The chair recognizes the gentlewoman from louisiana. I think our panelists for appearing before us today virtually and in person. Mister chairman, Election Fraud is a reality throughout the history of modern man across the world. Criminal behavior is as old as mankind itself. Its as old as mankinds tendency to succumb to failure of spirit. We are failed and fallen since adam and our elections are no exception. I read a quote from y a politico article regarding the university of Pennsylvania Research scholar immediately after president ial elections that was not allowed to speech feet. He researched exit poll numbers he was us and s had been reported on the night of the election. He says he went down a rabbit hole of Statistical Analysis in certain explanations for votes that seem to have magically appeared. A week after the election he shared a draft of his finding with his colleagues, scholars all and the conclusion is that i quote, fraud was an unavoidable hypothesis. His analysis wound up spreading widely drawing thousands of responses from around the country of people who believed as he did the election have been stolen. A quote from a political article but its about the 2004 elections. Of bush and kerry. He was a democrat panelists. My colleagues on both sides of the isle, Election Fraud and compromised elections are not new. Its as old as man itself. Whats new now is the digital age. Nobody had an iphone in the 2000 election of bush and al gore. 2004. Now we face the digital era where the theater of engagement has changed and nowhere more so than in our sovereign states responsibility to carry out solid elections every year that the American People can depend upon so the real challenge right now is how will our sovereign states present the best models for dealing with the perception amongst the american citizens that are elections lacked integrity. That their votes wont count. This must be addressed at the state level. I for one do not support the federalization of ourpo elections. We are oua representative republic of sovereign states. This is a states role and therefore the best practices of those states amongst the sovereign states that have provided solid, secure elections cycle after cycle. This must be shared and encouraged amongst your state partners across the country. Press secretary larose if youre prepared for r a questions or. As we saw in the 20 20 during the covid pandemic americans are concerned. It was a quite convenient pandemic with mail in balance and it presentedchallenges statebystate of how we deal with. Millions of failed ballots mostly unrequested, some arguably outside the parameters of the law wherein they were delivered. Its a constitutional question that will be solved ultimately in article 3. Adjudicated and we will learn from our challenges in the 2020 election cycle but i ask you secretary larose during the pandemic our country had to make a dramatic shift regarding how are country was forced to make a dramatic shift and making that choice on how to conduct elections. What was the Lessons Learned server and how can that be shared with the rest of the country as we move towards this election cycle to encourage americans that indeed our elections are indeed secure and that actions have been embraced within sovereign states to make certain that our elections are secure . Your time has expired but you can answer thequestion. Answer the question briefly. Resist the temptation for crisis opportunism. The way your state has run elections has been put in place for a reason. Work with your state legislature to make changes if you need to. Dont allow the courts to make lastminute changes in your elections and mindful logistics. Pay attention to the nuts and bowls of getting ballots ato people that should have them and getting them back and not doing things that are novel just because youre in a crisis. Thank you. The chair will now recognize the gentleman from texas ,ms. Jackson lee. Like you very much mister chairman and good morning to all the witnesses. Let me be clear of the importance of this hearing and i will dictate the ultimate reason though over the years weve looked at the question of Voter Registration, Cyber Security, all important pieces for this focus committee on Homeland Security but the real issue is in the aftermath of the 2020 election wrapped up in the big lie and the continuation of the big lie is really the question of threats to the physical security of elections and the increasing threats to elections officers and by dress of officials acting improperly to disinformation. That is simply what we are facing in our ability to really carry legitimate elections that are guided by as the previous witness said by the laws of the state. And not guided by misinformation, disinformation. That is what were facing. I was appalled at the threats of the Election Officials in atlanta and georgia in the last election still unchecked today. Im appalled that the state laws that have criminalized anyone trying to offer them a glass of water so miss Toulouse Oliver let me ask you as relates to elections information what is hindering those funds from reaching the Election Officials . Miss oliver . Ft congresswoman. Im sorry. Thats okay, wanted to make sure you meant to me. I think theres a couple of issues. I think first and foremost one of the Biggest Challenges we have for example in my state and i know many of my colleagues and share similar concerns. Because the funding weve received so far which by the way we are incredibly grateful for and i will never stop thanking you all forwhat you have allocated to the states. In our work, because it has come sporadically and in the lumpsum payments and we dont necessarily know when or if there will be more funding coming we have to be extremely diligent and thoughtful about making those funds last as long as possible to sustain the programs we felt liaround Election Security and Cyber Security. So often that means we are holding onto funds at the state level. Waiting to see what we are going to continue to need in the future because we cant necessarily count on that additional funding. Then adam congresswoman i know that some states like my colleague in minnesota for example when the federal funding is allocated we then have to go through the approval of the state legislature and that timing doesnt necessarily align for when those funds are allocated and when the secretary can then get a hold of them. Thank you. Ive got only a short period of time so i see in the longterm what we needto address. Again on the question of Election Security and the attack on election workers i think your testimony mentioned election workers in my time is up Public Service and going before the voters it was an honor to be engaged in the election process. What are some of the things we can do to help fill these positions as well as prevent more workers from leaving . Im in the midst of the Judiciary Committee hearing trying to ban assault weapons. I dont know with this rise in gun violence whether someone will think its s important for their position to come to a hole with a gun. What can we do and how should the federal government be involved . I frankly believe we should be doing a lot more with persons on the ground. Ve miss howard, thank you for your work with the Brennan Center. Thank you for the question. There are several Things Congress can do. High risk and allocate funding specifically for training for Election Officials about their physical safety. We can allocate funding so Election Officials have security of their personal residence. Congress can also request that cisa provide training to protect their personal gr security. Congress can work with multiple federal Agency Departments that are working to help protect our Election Officials and make sure their efforts are requested. Just very quickly then in my one second i have and let me stick with miss howard. Sorry, your time is expired. I will submit it in writing, i yield back. Just want to be fair. I now recognize the gentleman from new york mister rodriguez. Thank you chairman and Ranking Member for holding this hearing. Mister ylarose, you talked about your partnership with cisa and in 2019 when russian connected individuals attempted to pack your states system is that where that relationship started with cisa or did you have something going on before that and how did the federal government assist you after the attempted hack . I can tell you i made it a priority for my first couple days in office to get to know my counterparts and we worked closely with the Cyber Security teams in other states as well as my partners at cisa and down to the county level about laterally and down so weve been working with them ever since i came into office of that partnership paid off as you mentioned rawhen our state like many other states was the subject of what resulted in a ransom where attack. So with working with cisa, they are the head here of Cyber Security. Seeing how the election system has been declared as Critical Infrastructure so their job is to protect it from cyber and physical threats. What services does cisa provide now that are most impactful . What are the things they can do better on . Whats good and whats bad about your relationship . First of all information flow has gotten a lot better. At one time it was like we had to pull information out of them and thats gotten better over time and theyve been purposeful about that. Theres a variety of services they offer down to the county level. Ive required as part of our directives, we required our counties to engage in those services. One question is just one of resources. Sometimes theres a backlog and actually receiving those services. I know cisa has worked to address that but there was one thing it would be working to increase the resources so that those services can be dedelivered more quickly without the delay that currently exists. So they are doing a good job. We just need to increase their funding sothey can do it better. Team is incredibly purposeful just from the director on down. She time to visit usin all ill personally two weeks ago and we appreciate the partnership with them. We have a working relationship with her as well and shes doing a great job over there. Im going to yield to my colleague from texas, i know he has more questions. Thank you for the time. Nothing is more important than the integrity of our elections right now and there is distrust in the American Public. There is distrust and my colleagues in fact for gubernatorial candidate in the state of still wont can see the election for governor there. The distrust here and ill focus my questions on this howard. You mentioned safeguards the number of times. Safeguards for elections to make suretheir secure and that because , the public after trusts on enthe subject of identification ids would you say that the use of ids to register the use of ids in both and who you are and the use of ie to match encounter those funds would be a safeguard enhance trust in the Election Integrity in all states . I understand that, i want to os hear your take on the esafeguards because you speak with Great Authority on this. Im so sorry, thank you for the question. I think whether or not a photo id is critical depends on the other safeguards. You cant just look at one piece. E so in states like new york or new jersey where ballots can be mailed without actually requesting them wouldnt that be a bit safeguard to have . That the id then matches up with theperson that is voting or a signature . It may say about process requires that the voters signed the return envelope. Some states require an additional witness signature on there so again it depends on all the other safeguards that are in the process. You say your comments previously used in allstate different takes on it. Are you for the federalization of our election system . I think there have been important federal laws that protect every american , every citizens right to vote for instance in half it included mandatory provisional ballots be offered to individuals that have issues on election day. As a safeguard. I think the safeguards that we can be based around an id who tells you that person is especially instates that dont have the signature requirement or that mail ballots to people that may not have asked for them. The American Public deserves that. We have to have a system that has integrity and that we trust and right now there is a great distrust in our election system. I think the gentleman from new york. The chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia mister cotton for five minutes. That youchairman. The safety and wellbeing of ia Election Administrators and a robust secure election infrastructure is paramount for a functioning republic. In recent years Election Security has become even greater concern because of the radical changes and ctflexibilities that were allowed and distributed. For example the Supreme Court in pennsylvania ruled weeks before a president ial election ballots should be accepted as late as the friday after election day, even ballots without a postmark. This was a direct encroachment on the authority of the Pennsylvania State legislature with an active strong regulations and voter id. And it certainly caused much confusion for Election Administrators for the voters. This issue is right at home with my r constituents as our very own secretary of state unilaterally alter his requirements requiring the authentication of the house the balance signatures with an unlawful consent decree. People are concerned with the administration of the e 20 20 election because partisan officials bypassed the legislative process effectively changingthe rules of the game as the game was being played. According to the documentary 2000 meals thousands about four illegally harvested by political operatives and placed into dropbox is in n at least five states is a direct violation of state law which clearly say you only return balance for immediate family members. To be sure our mobile Election Administrators are not to blame for the poor decisions of some states elected officials have doubts on our Election Integrity. Quality of administrators in spite of rapidly changing guidance to administer elections in accordance with the constitution and thestate laws and i agree their safety is paramount. Nevertheless these constantly changing election laws on leftleaning judges from the president ial election fully led to voters having questions and frustrations about the integrity of the elections. Strong election laws like georgias sp2 two will do a lot to ensure confidence in elections across the country. But and recounts of paper ballots by mobile Election Officials would go a long way to further the confidence of concerned voters. I think in my home state every election automatic 10 percent recounts random counties as an audit of the results so this howard your comments i think what you said about the need for election audits iscorrect. While i believe stronger election laws that restore confidence in our election process will reduce the threat of violence for Election Officials i believe local Law Enforcement is the first and best line of defense for e these threats and we make sure that those s who commit unlawful acts of violence are prosecuted atthe state level. Its no secret my democratic colleagues have exploited these threats to justify a federal takeover of elections. This. Will use as a platform by the democrat majority to push for total federal control like mister sorbet and preventing act of 2001 and with that said i will direct my first question to Mister Larose. The democrats election servers and no would set forth burdensome requirements for federalelections. It prevents meaningful poll observer access im mandating an eight foot minimum distance to observe ballot counts across the country. Im aware there have been threats against Election Administrators in all i. His local walk tienforcement. To investigate and arrest theindividuals who made these threats . More than adequately equipped congressman and we sent a memo to all our Law Enforcement partners for each election sure they know not only the right of the responsibilities they have to safeguard not only our coworkers but everybody involved in the process. We even got all our Elections Officials to be equipped with Police Radios are states system in the case of an emergency so we can communicate directly with Law Enforcement. So local Law Enforcement is more than adequately equipped. Next question. How would such a federal regulation impact your constituents confidence poll observercould do their work effectively . Observation is crucial but really its micromanagement. For somebody in washington to think they need to tell 88 county board of elections and how many other board elections across the country how far away observer should stand is the height offederal government is in my opinion. Thank you, i believe local control is best when it comes to things like this. Miss howard, as you may be aware poll workers have a large center in detroit. Lots of windows with cardboard pizza boxes to bar access to the elections. Do you believe it is appropriate for windows to be blocked so the use of observers are restricted . Thank you for your question. Im not familiar with the allegations about what happened in detroit i will say in general there are laws in michigan and many other states to allow for observers at various different points of the election process and those observers should not be instructed. The gentlemans time has expired. Thank you and i go back. I recognize the gentleman from florida. Thank you mister chairman. Timely topic as we head into an important election and its something we all have grave concerns about as Election Integrity is a po driving issue and as a fundamental right to go out and vote. We need to really ensure that peoples ballots are being counted and we expect them to be counted when they are passed. Folks across the country are watching this and members have been coming and going. Im going to ask a couple of questions to make sure i understand exactly where you all stand on its so ill start with ms. Oliver. Do you believe a government issued id complete with photo should be required and this question is for all witnesses but i will start with ms. Oliver. We do not require that hearing in mexico. It is one option and i think. How can you verify the identity of an individual without a photo id . They are required to provide other identifiable information. A photo id is an option for voters. They can also provide other forms of documentary id or tygive a verbal confirmation of personal private information. That doesnt seem particularly secure so you might want to work on mister kelly. O i remind myself i am retired so i think you have my personal opinion out. I dont believe it would be a bad thing to provide id to increase voter confidence. I dont know ultimately what problem it solves insome cases but i dont think it would be a bad idea. Miss howard. I think its hard to look at one piece of the elections. Just a yes, sir no maam. Do you believe agovernment id with photo should be required . Mister larose. Congresswoman the simple answer is yes that omost americans believe that as well and we should makesure everyone can get one easily maintain accurate voter rolls. I think its curious that of the four witnesses we have here today three have said in some form or fashion that no photo id should be required to vote. A verbal confirmation is all that is to suffice that person is who they say they are. When i can go out and say im Jennifer Aniston that doesnt make me jenniferaniston as much as i would like it to be. We need to i think one if were talking about this issue start with the basic premise of verification. You need to have a photo id to cash a check and a photo id to live life. We required drivers licenses with photosto drive a car. There are basic things we have to do in life that require photo id. I dont think this is discriminatory in any shape or fashion and i would love to see our local officials work to really make sure that it is as successful and easy to get a government issued id so that we dont have these questions down the road. Im going to go to my second question for the witnesses. Do you believe that thirdparty political organizations that are funded by politicalparties should be prohibited from verification . Bill start with you Mister Larose. In ohio that work verification is done by sworn Election Officials from both parties and observed by the public if they wish to observe that. Thats where signature verification should be on that where we do it in ohio. Miss howard. Thank you for the question. I think that secretary larose brings up a good point. The signature verification procedures i am aware of are done by elected officials most of whom are sworn to uphold the state. Mister kelly. I believe in the same thing as secretary larose. And ms. Oliver. I agree with secretary larose and will add in my state and many we do allow Political Party observers. I appreciate that. For miss oliver and Mister Larose im sure youre all aware of that error system allows states to talk to each other person who is registered to vote in florida passes away in ohio the two states can talk to each other to make sure those voter rolls are updated. Do you believe the state should employ use of that system and ill start with you miss oliver. Absolutely, we use it here and encourage it everywhere. Mister larose. Ritual for Fraud Prevention and he gives us a way to catch people that tried to vote in multiple states and even though thats where we can test them now usingeric , every state should use it. My time has expired so i will submit the remainder of my questions for the record. I feel back. The chair now recognizes the gentleman from kansas, missed her. Thank you mister chairman. Mister larose thank you for being with us today. Its good to see you. I want to talkabout a couple of things. First of all thevulnerability disclosure policy , could you talk about what that is and what it s looks like . And congratulations on being the first state. It was written by a number of publications at the time. I enjoy being able to stand in front of groups in 2020 and say im the guy that runs on irs elections and im asking people to me. Of course you get gas and you have to explain what eim saying is the good guys and gals, the wife had ethical hackers out there times they call themselves security researchers now which is on more warm andfuzzy but there are folks out there that want to do this, to find older abilities. They are motivated to try to find where those vulnerabilities exist and tell us about. You can see our vulnerability disclosure policy if you go to sos. Gov and go right to the bottom of our website access rvulnerability disclosure policy and if you click on that and says goodbye hackers, if you find something tell us. You cant vandalize our site, cost some sort of breach but if you tell us will not only fix the problem but recognize you we had a great ethical on our stay at our elected officials conference and we gave him a big for having other states should be doing as well. As youre aware cisa offers policy platform and is this in your opinion something that they could engage in worship engage in in the states and localities as well, with that be helpful . Anything we can do to incentivize this is good. We work currently with the privatesector provider that helps get the word out to that Actor Community ohio once to use your expertise and will recognize you for your effort but to do that would be a great tool as well. In one of your counties they have 551 workers for the poll watchers. And im curious, how you plan to close that gap . This is a problem states across the country are having te and what do you think elthe implications are for Election Integrity and security . We will close that gap congressman and its something we can focus on from the beginning. Weve done Creative Things like recruit High School Seniors will call you at the booth program. We work with my fellow veterans asking them to and answer a second call of duty and continue filling that both to preserve and protect the constitution. We worked with businesses encouraging them to give their employees a day for democracy, give them a day off to the poll workers so were also holding our elections accountable the reason you know that number is because we publicly report those county boards of elections that dont have enough all workers the scrutiny and pressure to make sure they yoget there by election day. Sound like youre doing exciting things. How many states are implementing vulnerability disclosure policies . I believe its in the Single Digits at this point but it is growing. One of the ideas you talk about the youth in the booth and things like that, are you sharing with these in your professional organization so other states have the opportunity to visit this from your experience . For us its the National Association of secretaries of state. My colleague is a former president of that organization. We got together just one fweek ago in baton rouge and we were exchanging ideas and this is what we did. We love to steal each others good ideas and hopefully my colleagues stealsome good ideas from ohio. I appreciate that. Mister kelly your department would produce an Election Security playbook in conjunction with local officials in addition to the fbi and dhs. Can you talk about this and the emphasis your office put on collaboration because its the as i talk about secondary boroughs that were all rowing in the same direction. That where sharing information so that we can tackle this problem. Thank you congressman and it was collaboration was a big part of what we did in Orange County. I partnered at the table with dhs, fbi and local state officials, aLaw Enforcement and we came up with a playbook design for responses on election day and leading up to election day. If you dont have to type of collaboration leading up to those important elements youre going to have gaps. Theres no question and one of the things i would say is part of that place is doing things like visiting and increasing this maintenance effort before ballots go out so you can improve. Thats of a part of it. I appreciate that. My time is expired, i feel back. Thank you. We are at the end of our hearing. Before i conclude i want to add to the witness, whats the most important action that we in congress can take to fundamentally enhance Election Security and ill start with secretary oliver. Thank you again mister chair and thank you for having me here today. Its been a very important discussion and i think that also although the major different political views i think there have been a lot of consistent threads throughout this conversation and hopefully that gives you all and the American Public increased confidence in our electionprocess. Mister chairman i think many commenters today have noted the importance of allowing states and indeed the constitutional requirement to allow states to conduct elections. We do so many things in common to ensure the integrity of our elections but continue to support us in our efforts and particularly with it doesnt have to be a lot ongoing funding so that wea can protect our critical election infrastructure which is a part of our National Security infrastructure thank you so much misterchair. Mister kelly was the most important thing you can do . Echo secretary olivers comments and thank you very much for todays hearing. Two quick things. I believe funding is important and improving security and election offices on will go a long way and then raising awareness icfor this issue. It is important that not only theAmerican Public become aware ocof this but also local Law Enforcement leaders across the country. Miss howard. Ha thank you so much for holding this hearing. H i think the most important thing, can do is provide additional funding to require the currently available funding to have minimum arms for Election Security. Secretary larose. We have a responsibility from the county level, state officials to you all at the federal level so the first thing is allow us to do our jobs and dont try to do our jobs for us by setting specific rules surrounding Election Administration but do supportus with the great resources you offer. Consider drawing those resources. One additional thing is that voter list maintenance is one of the most important responsibilities we have maintaining that dynamic list thats constantly changing is hard. The government has resources that are not always made available to the state as far as verifying citizenship data, those kinds of things more data flow as it relates to voter list maintenance would be helpful. I think the witnesses for their excellent testimony and the members for their questions. Members may have additional questions for the witnesses and we ask that you respond in writing to those questions. The committee record will remain open for 10 business days. Without objection the committee stands at your. [inaudible] cspan is your unfiltered view of government funded by these Television Companies and more including media, the world changed in an instant but media, was ready. Internet traffic soared and we never slowed down. Schools and businesses went virtual and we powered a new reality because at mediacom were built to keepyou ahead. Mediacom supports cspan with these other Companies Giving you a front row seat to democracy. The administrator of usaid Samantha Power talk about global insecurity and hunger at the center for international studies. This power laid out several driving factors including the pandemic, Climate Change and russias invasion of ukraine which has affected food and energyprices around the world. Good morning everyone