State & Local Cybersecurity for the 2024 Election Season

Election security is top of mind across the United States, from concern about malign foreign interference, to DDoS attacks against election websites, to the security of voting machines and their software, to insider and third-party threats, even to “swatting” of local election officials, to name just a few.

At the heart of all these threats is the intent to change the outcome of political races. Outcomes, in the end, are determined by counting votes. Because elections are conducted by the states, there are many different types of voting systems in place, with different kinds of voting machines, tabulators, software – and different levels of resources available to address all the risks. While voting machines are not directly connected to the internet, there are many ways that the devices could be interfered with.

Learning Objectives:

• Review the range and nature of election threats that officials need to guard against, including cyber attacks, physical security of voting machines, and targeted voter disinformation campaigns
• Outline the resources available to combat each type of risk, including federal efforts run by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
• Identify the resources available to protect against outside actors targeting voter rolls, voting machines, and tabulators