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1 Defending America's Election Infrastructure [1] (2019)

handle is hein.brennan/dfndamel0001 and id is 1 raw text is: BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE Defending America's Election Infrastructure Democracy in America is under serious threat. A bipartisan report from the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that in 2016 all 50 states were likely tar eted by Russian -eaie eknacS1 hto nrsrue, at least one major elction vendor was uccs b e h. Indeed, since 2016, we have seen continued cyberattacks against political campaigns tied to both Russia and Iran. American elections are decentralized, with state and local election officials retaining primary authority for administering them. This means, among other things, that they bear considerable responsibility for defending our infrastructure against concerted attacks from sophisticated nation state actors. Fortunately, election officials take this duty seriously, and the federal government has recently provided some overdue assistance, in the form of minimal funding to improve election security and better coordination with agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security. replacing antiquatd and paperless votin machine: with more secure systems, while others have jouht itrisk asscssmenL to identify security vulnerabilities in important infrastructure such as registration databases. Much more can be done, however, to strengthen election security and increase public confidence in elections. Below, we detail our top policy recommendations for doing so. Conduct Assessments and Testing Discussions of election security often focus on individual aspects of election systems, such as voting machines or registration databases. While such focus is important, it is also critical to look at the election process as a whole, understand the interaction of election systems and personnel, and assess the vulnerabilities that exist in each facet that could be exploited by malicious actors looking to undermine elections. Below we detail steps the federal government could take to ensure more comprehensive security. Conduct periodic state and nationwide threat assessments. As cyber threats evolve, it is essential to assess the security of our election infrastructure regularly, to understand where new vulnerabilities may crop up. Congress hould provide resource: for state and federal agencies to eonduch acssments and help state and local governments implement mitigation strategies to address the identified weaknesses. Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law 120 Broadway, Suite 1750 New York, NY 10271

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