New from the EAC this month:
- The EAC’s Innovative Accessibility Video Series
- Cybersecurity Awareness Month
- Commissioner Hovland’s Video Series and Blog on Civically Engaging College Students
- New Videos to Educate Voters on Election Security
NEW Innovative Elections Accessibility Training Video Series
The EAC, in partnership with the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible Media at GBH (NCAM), released an innovative video training series for election officials, poll workers, and other election stakeholders on making voting more accessible to the 15.8 million voters with disabilities.
Titled “Accessible Elections - Information for Election Officials,” the series’ lessons incorporate not only physical accessibility, such as creating accessible polling places, but also promote ways election administrators can create accessible websites, social media, other electronic communications, and forums. The series’ broadly applicable guidance adheres to accessibility laws nationwide.
The eight episodes are:
- Understanding Disability
- Interacting with People with Disabilities… and Everyone
- Assistive Technology
- Basic Considerations for Website Accessibility
- Accessible Social Media
- Digital Accessibility
- Making Voter-Related Videos and Forums Accessible to All
- Physical Considerations in the Polling Place
Each video, now available on the EAC’s YouTube channel, is between five and seven minutes long.
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month!
As technology has evolved, so have the technology-based threats to elections. The EAC and other federal agencies have created resources to help election officials combat threats to election security--from technical hardware specifics to what election officials can do to keep everything in the voting process, from registration to certification, safe and secure.
You can find an overview of the EAC’s cybersecurity and general security resources on the Election Security Preparedness webpage. These resources include cybersecurity training, preparation and response to cybersecurity threats, best practices, and more.
Two recent EAC resources that can help election officials with cybersecurity concerns are:
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The AI Toolkit, which was created to provide election officials with a general understanding of AI tools, and the opportunities and threats that they create for effective election administration.
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The Election Security Resources and Grant Funding from Other Federal Agencies, which provides information on federal grant programs that can be used to improve security for election officials and elections offices.
As part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the EAC Commissioners are planning conversations with subject matter experts on a range of security and elections topics. Commissioner Hovland kicked off this series with a discussion on cybersecurity basics with Geoff Hale, who leads the Election Security and Resilience team at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) National Risk Management Center.
Commissioner Hovland and Mr. Hale discussed the importance of two-factor authentication, low-cost (high-reward) security solutions, and other recommendations for the evolving threat landscape and the upcoming 2024 election season. Watch it here.
CISA offers a range of resources that may be helpful to election officials, including:
- Cybersecurity Toolkit and Resources to Protect Elections
- No Downtime in Elections: A Guide to Mitigating Risks of Denial of Service
- Election Security Training and Exercise Offerings Flyer
- Sign Up for a .gov Domain: Information for Election Officials [new applications are paused through early January 2024]
- CISA’s Election Security Website
Watch Commissioner Hovland’s Three-Part Video Series on Elections and College Communities
College students and communities often face unique challenges regarding the voting process. They also provide opportunities for unique engagement. EAC Commissioner Ben Hovland spoke with three sets of election officials and experts who work with these communities about these topics. He summarized the central theme of these discussions with “We know that voting is habit forming and critical to engage young voters. We need to ensure they have a positive experience.”
Watch all three discussions, “Election Administration in College Communities,” “Engaging Student Voters in College Communities,” and “Promoting Civic Engagement with Colleges and Universities,” in this YouTube playlist.
You can also read the blog summarizing the main points of the series.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this series!
The EAC and Election Security
What does the EAC do for elections and voting systems security? This video gives an overview of the testing and certification of voting systems and efforts to ensure elections are accurate, secure, accessible, and transparent.
If you’re interested in one specific aspect, there are shorter videos, at less than two minutes each. The EAC chose these to highlight an overview of the EAC’s mission in election security, how the testing and certification is performed, and the importance of updating the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG).
These can also be helpful in explaining these aspects of election security to others.