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 NationalSecurity 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 RulesOpening 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 coordina