For Immediate Release
February 22, 2021
WASHINGTON, DC – The Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council (GCC) held its winter meeting virtually the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, to discuss lessons learned from the 2020 election and ways to improve coordination between the federal government and state and local election officials. The members of the GCC Executive Committee – Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Assistant Director Bob Kolasky, U.S. Election Assistance Commission Chairman Ben Hovland, National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) President Maggie Toulouse Oliver, National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) President Michelle Tassinari, and Escambia County (Florida) Supervisor of Elections David Stafford – released the following statement:
“The GCC meeting demonstrates that the election community continues to be unified and committed to working together on election cybersecurity. It was an opportunity to assess what went well in the 2020 election cycle and how we can improve election security and resiliency in future American elections.
As the nation faced the worst pandemic in a century, state and local election officials worked to ensure voters could participate safely, while also implementing new and expanded cybersecurity safeguards and countering misinformation and disinformation. This required an unprecedented level of coordination between all levels of government. Going forward, we will continue to coordinate as we examine lessons learned from these challenges and apply them to future elections.
The American people always have a role to play too. We ask that voters continue to remain engaged in the process, and remember that their state and local election officials are the best source for accurate, up-to-date information about voting and the election process. Protecting elections requires a sustained collaborative effort to ensure they remain secure and resilient.”
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EAC Contact: Kristen Muthig
Phone: 202-897-9285
Email: [email protected]
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) was established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). It is an independent, bipartisan commission charged with ensuring secure, accurate and accessible elections by developing guidance to meet HAVA requirements, adopting voluntary voting system guidelines, and serving as a national clearinghouse of information on election administration. The EAC also accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, as well as administers the use of HAVA funds. For more information, visit www.eac.gov.