FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 1, 2017
Washington, DC -- Last week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) held meetings planned in coordination with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to further discuss and develop the Election Critical Infrastructure Subsector partnership framework. The meetings were held in conjunction with the Election Center National Conference and the National Association of State Election Directors Summer Conference in Orange County, Calif.
On Monday, August 21, the Elections Critical Infrastructure Working Group (EICWG), a precursor to the Election Critical Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council, met for the second time to follow-up on initial discussions that took place in Albany, NY in late July 2017. The EICWG is comprised of national security and election stakeholders from across the nation. It is focused on continuing to develop the election infrastructure subsector partnership framework to include national strategic objectives, governance guidance, information sharing protocols and other related partnership objectives.
The meeting was attended by DHS leadership, EAC commissioners, and representatives from National Association of Secretaries of State, Election Center, International Association of Government Officials, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and National Association of State Election Directors. Representatives from the EAC’s Board of Advisors, Standards Board and Technical Guidelines Development Committee also participated. Among the attendees were state and local election officials from 12 states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
“As elections continue to take place across the nation and election officials prepare for the 2018 federal election, it is imperative for there to be a means for the nation's election officials to receive actionable information and intelligence regarding the security of their election systems,” said EAC Chairman Matthew Masterson. “The group made significant progress during these past two meetings and I look forward to finalizing a process to serve election officials for 2018.”
On Wednesday, August 23, the EAC, in conjunction with DHS, hosted a Sector Coordinating Council listening session to provide election system vendors with information about the National Infrastructure Protection Plan partnership framework and how non-governmental partners will participate in this effort going forward. The session lasted two-hours and included discussions about subsector developments to date, prospective roles within the partnership and proposed activities moving forward. An additional and more broadly scoped listening sessions for non-governmental partners is expected to take place in October or November 2017.
For more information, contact Brenda Bowser Soder at [email protected].