It was great to be back at the National Association of Counties (NACo)’s annual conference in Philly! It was like old times for Kathy Boockvar to reunite with Mike Moser (former CISA Election Security Analyst and PA DOS Director of Election Security & Technology) for a fireside chat with Laurel Caldwell (Chief Information Officer, Latah County, Idaho) about cross-sector collaboration and how critical partnerships are in election security.
Kathy and Mike highlighted the election security and preparedness task forces and work groups that PA shaped beginning in 2017-2018 to ensure Pennsylvania strengthened lines of communication and collaboration at all levels from local officials to state to federal. They talked about their work to bring together county and state election officials, IT and information security professionals, emergency management, homeland security and law enforcement officials, as well as the National Guard and legal and communications teams and other stakeholders.
These collaborations were incredibly helpful for information and resource-sharing as well as operational planning and incident response, especially when unexpected events like a global pandemic arose. All local and state governments can and should build these cross-sector partnerships. There is no single way nor any requirements of funding or who must be in the room. Especially in a time like now where federal resources, support, and intelligence have been cut, forming these cross-sector partnerships now will help fill those gaps. If you are a local or state government looking for guidance in getting started, Athena Strategies can help.
Thanks to Center for Tech and Civic Life for partnering on this program and for their many great resources for election and other government officials: https://electionexcellence.org/resources/
See also Committee for Safe and Secure Elections (CSSE)‘s resources to help officials strengthen physical security: https://safeelections.org/resources/
And Athena Strategies’ collection of helpful election security resources: https://athena-strategies.com/resource-search/
