Transcripts For CSPAN Election Officials Testify About Threa

Voter rolls and taking actions to prevent cyber attacks. They also warned about the dangers of misinformation and threats of violence related to the administration of elections. [indiscernible chatter] the committee on Homeland Security will be in order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare the committee in recess at any point. Good morning. Free and Fair Elections are the bedrock of our democracy. 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 a for allowing this hearing. When i was first eligible to vote in two 1006 election officers were in the process of replacing of the structure. Social media was new and largely a way for Young College kids to connect it our adversaries had not figured out how to weaponize our freedom of speech or technological ingenuity and use it against us. The notion that an armed crowd would descend upon the United States Capitol Building and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power would have been be on anyones wildest imagination. And harassing Election Officials or alter an election result was something relegated to developing democracies where democracy is in decline. The 2006 election ushered in a new era of threats to our democracy. The russian government targeted Russian Election infrastructure to spread conspiracy theories to tip the scales in favor of one candidate and more devastatingly begin to sow doubt among the public about the integritys of our democratic institutions. Many democrats recognized the Urgent National Security Threat rest of the created and established an Election Security task force with members of the House Administration committee to better understand the threats and better mitigates against them. We did not get bipartisan support to implement the task forces recommendation and efforts to enact them into law have languished. In the meantime, adversaries redoubled efforts to so division among us and some politicians last onto the big lie end of the conspiracy theories. As a result a violent mob stormed the Capital Holding democracy hostage. Outside washington, Election Officials have found themselves victims of harassment and threats 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. Mr. Chairman, you stole my thunder. This committee giving her proximity to the southwest border will be evidently a value add to the committee. I want to thank you for holding this hearing and i want to discuss how we can Work Together to physically protect our state and local election Election Officials while also securing election infrastructure from foreign interference and Cyber Threats. The cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or cisa is charged by congress with being the nations lead civilian cyber Security Agency. It plays a Critical Role in this endeavor. I look forward to our witnesses perspectives on ways to improve the physical security of our elections as well as the tools and Services Provided by system cisa to shore up our election cyber defenses. Theyve come a long way for sure. Our committee remains committed to securing our democratically run elections from all threats, including physical threats to electrical workers. Following the 2020 president ial election, the department of justice reported more than 850 incidents of threats and harassment targeting election workers. Issues such as these will not be tolerated and can and should continue to be dealt with by local Law Enforcement. In recent years, foreign adversaries like russia iran and china have targeted u. S. Elections both through election and influence and election interference. Foreign actors seek to undermine our elections both directly by tampering with our election systems and indirectly by attempting to influence how people think about an election. Let me be clear. The United States will not allow any adversary to sow distrust or chaos in our democratic process. In addition to these foreign interference efforts, our nation is seeing a spike in Cyber Threats across all 16 Critical Infrastructure sectors and the election Infrastructure Sector no exception. Simply being vigilant is no longer enough. Todays cyber threat environment demands a posture of unwavering resilience. As we entered the 2022 we must keep a keen eye on the midterms and ensure that voters can be confident that their vote will be cast securely given the fact securely. Given the volume and sophistication of the Cyber Threats we face, we must empower cisa with the tools and resources it needs to support our state and local Election Officials so that they can carry out their mission to administer free and Fair Elections. This is Election Security mission has greatly evolved since election infrastructure was designated as a sub sector of our nations Critical Infrastructure. In 2017, cisa as gone to Great Lengths to build trusted relationships with state and local elected officials across the country and it has provided free and voluntary cybersecurity services, tools under the guidance in all 50 states. A key part of securing election infrastructure that is owned and operated by state and local governments, not the federal government. Ensuring that cisa as ability to provide Situational Awareness about moto buddies across digital footprints. I am pleased that we are joined today by secretary larose, who has ohio secretary of state, serves as states chief elections officer. The secretary spent years working to ensure ohios elections are secure and he was even named legislator of the year in 2016 by the Ohio Association Election Officials for his work to improve the States Election process. I look forward to hearing from the secretary and all our Witnesses Today about the practical a meaningful steps congress can take to improve cisas ability to support our state and local officials in protecting the cyber and physical security of our elections. Cybersecurity is indeed a team sport and now is the time to double down. Protecting the homeland requires partnerships throughout all levels of government and across industries and party lines. Working together, we can be prepared not only for the threats of today but also the emerging risks of tomorrow. And before i closed briefly, i just want to give you one story. Several years ago, two years ago, we had an Election Security Task Force Meeting up in in Central New York and we have the Election Officials there from the counties in my district and one woman told me that she received 1762 directives from the Election Security task force in one year. She shares her chief Information Security officer with 20 something other agencies in her county. And no ones digesting that information. Thats one of the big concerns i have and thats one of the big things we need to tackle Going Forward is how do we make, how do we make actionable the information were getting from the experts, and thats something that we want to hear from you miss howard and the other Witnesses Today. And with that, mr. Chairman, i yield back. Other members of the committee are reminded that under Committee Rules Opening Statements may be submitted for the record. Members are also reminded that the committee will operate according to the guidelines laid out by the chairman and Ranking Member in our february 3, 2021 colloquy regarding remote procedures. I now welcome our panel of witnesses. Our first witness, the honorable Maggie Toulouse oliver has served as the secretary of state of new mexico since 2016. From 2007 until 2016 secretary Toulouse Oliver served as the county clerk, Bernalillo County where she oversaw elections in the states largest county. Secretary oliver is also the past president of the National Association of the secretaries of states. Our second witness, mr neil kelly is the current chairman of the committee for safe and secure elections. Mr. Kelly is a past member of the Voting System standard board and a member of the Election Integrity task force, Government Coordinating Council and a number of other organizations aimed at making elections more accessible and secure. Our third witness is Elizabeth Howard at the Brennan Center for justice at ny school of law. Prior to joining the centers she served as Deputy Commissioner for the Virginia Department of elections. During her tenure she coordinated many modernization projects including the adoption of online, paperless absentee ballot applications, which the department received a 2017 innovation in American Government right ideas award from the ash center. Our final witness, the honorable frank larose served as secretary of state of ohio since 2019. Secretary larose served two terms in the Ohio State Senate and was deemed legislator of the year in 2016 by the ohio state of elected officials in recognition of his support to improving ohios election process. The witnesses statements will be committed to the record. The chair asked each witness to summarize their statements beginning with secretary oliver. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman and members of the committee. I am pleased to be here today with these distinguished colleagues. I served as to mexicos secretary of state, our chief elections official. Election administration is conducted at the state, county, and local level. My services to come to work every day to keep the engine of our democracy running. This work is not glamorous but it is vital to how we elect our leaders and how we organize our way of life. Since 2020 lies and misinformation about how elections are run at about the people who run them have proliferated to an unreasonable degree. Among a significant portion of the country the continuous drumbeat of these lies is created an atmosphere of distress in our elections and Election Officials. Any people believe that our countrys highest office is occupied by an illegitimate president. Many people now believe that our entire election infrastructure is corrupted and has been weaponized to exclusively favour one Political Party. Many people now believe that Election Administration that practices that serve to increase access and security like secured ballot drop boxes, air gapped vote counting systems, vote by mail and the ministerial certification of Election Results to name only a few are part of a vast conspiracy meant to undermine our entire american way of life. Course these things are not true and no one has ever produced a shred of credible evidence to support these conspiratorial claims. But the consequences of these lies have real world impacts, especially for Election Officials. For people who believe their government is corrupt and their leaders are not legitimate threats of physical violence and acts of intimidation have unfortunately begun to seem like acceptable responses in new mexico. New mexico, the conspiracies about our voting and election systems have gripped a portion of the electorate here and have caused people to take action during the 2020 election cycle. I was doxed and had to leave my home for weeks under state police protection. My office has since had to utilize services for both me and members of my staff that prevent doxxing by removing personal identifying information from the internet. Since 2020, my office has certainly seen an uptick in social media trolling, aggrieved emails and calls into our office and other communications that garrett parrot the misinformation circulating widely in the national discourse. But more recently, especially since our june 22 primary election, my office has experienced pointed threats serious enough to be referred to Law Enforcement. As recently as june for example, there were three threatening phone calls against me that were for excuse me were referred to our Fbi Field Office for investigation. These threats came on the heels of my offices effort to directly combat election misinformation through a new website and shortly after a nationally publicized situation in otero county new mexico, where the county commission parroted much of the election misinformation were seeing across the country initially refused to certify the primary Election Results. My office then had to seek a court order to compel them to perform their duty under the law. Growing distrust about our election system leads to either apathy or indignation, both of which will have detrimental effects on our entire system of government. The Election Officials and volunteer poll workers that our elections depend on. I fear that threats coupled with the general vitriol online and in the media directed at all aspects of our elections will cause them so much stress and uncertainty that they will simply not want to do the work anymore. Weve already seen this happening in many parts of the country. For voters, i fear that the flood of misinformation will compel them to lose more and more trust in the system and they will no longer participate in our democracy. I believe both federal and state Law Enforcement agencies are taking these threats seriously and diligently. We must show the public that threats against Election Officials will not be tolerated. Thank you again. I hope my testimony is helpful and im happy to answer any questions. Thank you for your testimony. The chair recognizes mr kelly to summarize a statement for five minutes. Yes, im sorry. Good morning, chairman torres, Ranking Member kokko and members of the committee on Homeland Security. Thank you for the invitation to speak today at this important hearing. You rigged my election. Were going to try you and hang you. Were coming for you. There will be blood on the ballots and blood on you. These are just a small example of the type of threats and harassment Election Officials around the country have experienced, including myself in recent elections. We also know that many Election Officials, in addition to personal threats, have also endured threats against their families. As a result, Upcoming Elections are not very appealing to those that run them. Many have left the profession. The impact is widespread and while the effects on individuals are devastating the potential blow to democracy should not be dismissed. Throughout my written testimony, i talked about the need to engage Law Enforcement in the election planning process. However, i must make clear that im not advocating for the presence of armed officers in polling places. This is a sensitive issue and one that should be handled with the seriousness that it deserves. I believe there are ways to address these growing threats while remaining steadfast in our resolve to recognize that the mere presence of Law Enforcement in the polls can be viewed as intimidation. There are steps that can help as an example while serving as Orange Countys chief election official. I established a Task Force Made up of dhs, the fbi, our state and local Law Enforcement partners and our district attorney. Combining my experience as a former police officer, we worked collabora