Capitol Comments

Earlier this week, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) convened in Silver Springs, Maryland where they approved the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0 (VVSG 2.0).

The world of elections tends to get less spotlight during the “off-years” for presidential elections; however, the elections space never really slows down. While the presidential race occurs every four years, the time in between includes midterms, congressional races, state legislature races, as well as countless municipal and county races. This results in state and local election administrators continuously devoting their energy to running efficient and successful elections.

In light of the media storm on election security, Senators Amy Klobuchar (DFL-MN) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) proposed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to address the issue. The proposed bill would provide federal dollars to States for updating their election cybersecurity.

In efforts to better defend the integrity of the election system, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will allow top state election officials – Secretaries of State and Election Directors – to apply for access to “secret” level clearance which would allow them to learn more about past, present and future election security information.

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) announced last week that it will now be accepting submissions for its second-annual national competition best practices in election administration. This year the competition will coincide with the 15^th anniversary of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) – the legislation that established the EAC. This year’s categories were chosen specifically to celebrate the progress made since HAVA was passed.