Durbin, Peters, Klobuchar, Murray, And Warner Call On Agencies To Prioritize Election Security In Advance Of The 2024 Presidential Election

09.13.24

Durbin, Peters, Klobuchar, Murray, And Warner Call On Agencies To Prioritize Election Security In Advance Of The 2024 Presidential Election

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chair of the Rules Committee; Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee; and Mark Warner (D-VA), Chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence, in calling on the Attorney General, Secretary of Homeland Security, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Director of National Intelligence to do everything in their power to ensure the security of our elections. As the threat to election security continues to evolve, agencies must have the proper capabilities and resources in place to combat potential threats like cyberattacks, foreign influence operations, and physical violence against election workers and infrastructure.

"With less than two months remaining before the November 5, 2024, Presidential election, we write to express concerns about threats posed to the election and to encourage each of your agencies to do everything necessary to ensure the election is conducted in a safe, secure, free, and fair manner," wrote the Senators. "Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of American democracy, yet election officials at the state, local, Tribal, and territorial level have expressed concerns for the safety of our nation's elections infrastructure and the physical security of election workers."

The Senators continued: "However, more must be done to counter the persistent threats outlined above and ensure that election workers can accomplish our shared goal of free, fair, and secure elections. For these reasons, we urge you to continue to prioritize preparations to detect, prevent, and mitigate threats against election systems, officials, and workers."

As Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Durbin has long championed efforts to protect our electoral process, including the safety of election workers. In August 2022, Durbin held a Judiciary Committee oversight hearing that included testimony from officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on threats to election workers-the first formal update to Congress since DOJ's 2021 announcement that it was launching a task force to address the rise in threats against election officials. The hearing also included testimony from Secretaries of State Jocelyn Benson and Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who endured threats following the 2020 election.

The text of the letter is copied below and available here.

September 12, 2024

Dear Attorney General Garland, Secretary Mayorkas, Director Wray, and Director Haines:

With less than two months remaining before the November 5, 2024, Presidential election, we write to express concerns about threats posed to the election and to encourage each of your agencies to do everything necessary to ensure the election is conducted in a safe, secure, free, and fair manner. Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of American democracy, yet election officials at the state, local, Tribal, and territorial level have expressed concerns for the safety of our nation's elections infrastructure and the physical security of election workers.

Based on malign actors' activity in past elections, potential threats to this year's election include cyberattacks on election systems, officials, and candidates; efforts to undermine trust in our elections, including post-election processes, through the propagation of mis- and disinformation; efforts by both domestic and foreign actors to intimidate voters; and physical violence towards voters, election workers, and candidates, as recently evidenced by the attempted assassination of former President Trump.

The Intelligence Community's 2023 and 2024 Annual Threat Assessments stated that Russia, China, and Iran are all actively trying to meddle in U.S. elections. In the last month, a number of your agencies have taken steps to disrupt election threats from Iran and Russia, including through a mix of indictments, sanctions designations, domain seizures, and public exposure.

Ongoing testing of election devices and networks continues to show vulnerabilities that may be exploited. The election security community has not, as of yet, seen any indication of foreign efforts to target election infrastructure, and though there have been no foreign cyberattacks impacting election results or taking voting machines offline on election day, security researchers say the risk exists. While the election security community remains confident that such efforts would be unlikely to manipulate election processes "at a scale large enough to impact the outcome of a federal election without detection by intelligence collection, post-election audits, or physical and cybersecurity monitoring," even minor successes could undermine public confidence in election processes. Without concentrated efforts to engage the private sector responsible for securing our voting machines and election infrastructure, we risk future incidents.

The election cycle of 2024 is also vulnerable to artificial intelligence (AI) enabled capabilities, which could impact the security and integrity of elections and election infrastructure. Mitigation of generative AI and traditional cyber threats will require election officials across the nation to apply the same security best practices that experts have recommended for years, and which were emphasized over the past 18 months in interagency products and joint federal and state exercises-implementation of security controls like multifactor authentication on election infrastructure; education of employees and volunteers on the potential risks and how to identify and respond to cyberattacks; and active planning and training of election officials for different cyberattack scenarios, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) or ransomware.

Generative AI also risks escalating the threats from mis- and disinformation related to the election, both ahead of election day and in the weeks after. Both foreign adversaries and election deniers alike are attempting to undermine confidence in the election, with most of the voting public unable to discern the origin of the information. Election falsehoods spread rapidly on social media, with platforms unable or unwilling to intervene at times, fueling threats to election systems. In 2022, 64% of election officials reported that the spread of false information made their jobs more dangerous.

An increase in physical threats to election workers and election infrastructure has further complicated efforts to ensure fair and free elections. The Brennan Center for Justice conducted a survey of election administrators and found that the majority are preparing additional steps to protect voters, election workers, and polling locations in the run up to the 2024 election. In May 2024, the Brennan Center found that 38% of state and local election workers experienced threats and harassment for doing their job. More than half were concerned about their safety and that of their colleagues or staff. In addition, the Brennan Center found that four in ten election officials were concerned about being doxed, and one in four were concerned about being swatted. In many instances across the country, these fears have been realized, and the proliferation of AI has not only increased the incidents of swatting but made them more difficult to trace, predict, and mitigate through the accessibility of voice manipulation and other AI tools.

The increase in threats and harassment can lead to election workers, often retirees, quitting altogether. Six in 10 poll workers are over the age of 61, with more than 25% over the age of 71. The increased frequency and severity of threats has come with increased turnover, leading to less experienced- or even hyper-partisan- individuals running elections. This turnover leads to a shortage of workers and less faith in the electoral process. According to the Pew Research Center, most U.S. registered voters trust their poll workers more than the state officials who run the elections. Further, these same threats, particularly those that draw large crowds, media attention, and violence, have caused many civic institutions to discontinue service as polling locations. The school system in Maricopa County, Arizona, barred the use of its schools for polling locations. In other states, churches and other community institutions have chosen not to participate in elections to avoid disruption to normal business and ensure the safety of their employees.

We appreciate and support the steps that your agencies have taken to address these concerning threats, and the important work that the Intelligence Community is doing to track threats to our elections. We are aware of the steps that the Department of Justice Election Threats Task Force has taken in holding people accountable when they threaten election workers. We appreciate that the Department of Homeland Security has made election security a national priority and that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are providing state and local election officials with support through tabletop exercises, protective security advisor support, and access to resources, tools, and planning guidance. We also know that the people on the ground - election and law enforcement officials - are working every day to ensure that these elections run smoothly and safely.

However, more must be done to counter the persistent threats outlined above and ensure that election workers can accomplish our shared goal of free, fair, and secure elections. For these reasons, we urge you to continue to prioritize preparations to detect, prevent, and mitigate threats against election systems, officials, and workers.

Thank you for your efforts to protect our elections to ensure they are free, fair, and secure.

Sincerely,

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