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WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s cybersecurity agency has launched a program aimed at boosting election security in the states, shoring up support for local offices and hoping to provide reassurance to voters that this year's presidential elections will be safe and accurate. Officials with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency planned to introduce its new election security adviser program Thursday to the National Association of State Election Directors and on Friday to the National Association of Secretaries of State. For state and local election officials, the list of security challenges keeps growing. The CISA program includes 10 new hires, all of whom join the federal agency with extensive election experience. CISA Director Jen Easterly announced plans for the program at a July meeting of the state election directors in South Carolina.
Persons: Jen, Cait Conley, ” Conley, Keith Ingram, Spencer Wood, David Stafford, , , Lori Augino, CISA, Al Schmidt, Karen Brinson Bell, Brinson Bell Organizations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Security Agency, National Association of State, National Association of, State, Ohio, State’s, North Carolina State Board Locations: New Hampshire, Fulton County , Georgia, Russia, South Carolina, Texas, Escambia County , Florida, Washington, ,
CNN —A wave of departures by election officials in key states risks adding new stress to the nation’s election system ahead of next year’s presidential contest, voting rights groups and several state election chiefs warn. The growing alarm over the resignations and retirements comes as officials say election workers continue to face a barrage of threats and harassment and partisan interference in their duties, first ignited by false claims of a stolen White House election in 2020. In King County, Washington – which includes Seattle – Julie Wise, the county election director, recalled receiving a letter over the summer with a rant about elections. Election watchdogs say more action is needed – including boosting federal funding and extending a federal law that criminalizes the release of restricted personal information about federal workers to cover election officials. Brinson Bell began tracking the departures when she became the state’s election chief that year.
Persons: Joe Biden, , Adrian Fontes, Pennsylvania –, Republican Al Schmidt, , Nick Penniman, Schmidt, Donald Trump’s, ” Schmidt, Seattle – Julie Wise, Wise, , ” Penniman, Meagan Wolfe, Trump, Wolfe, there’s, Roy Cooper, Critics, Karen Brinson Bell, Brinson Bell, Kathy Holland, Holland, , Brinson, ” Adam Byrnes, he’s, ” Byrnes, Fontes, ” Fontes, that’s Organizations: CNN, Democrat, Republican, US Justice Department, National Conference of State Legislatures, Committee, ” Workers, GOP, supermajorities, Gov, North Carolina State Board, Emory University, Locations: Arizona, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, King County , Washington, Seattle, In Wisconsin, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Alamance County, Swain County, Georgia
“This feels like a really precarious spot.”In Pennsylvania, officials estimate 40 of the state’s 67 county election offices have new directors or deputy directors since 2020. In North Carolina, where the Republican Legislature recently moved to gain more control of state and local election boards, roughly a third of 100 county election directors have left since the 2020 election. Of the local election office, Fitzgerald said he knows they are trying to improve: “But they are not coming through when you need them the most,” he said. Local election officials were in a tough position trying to explain what happened given the active investigation, Sanguedolce said. She recalls angry voters showing up at the election office, contentious public meetings and law enforcement officials warning her about threats.
Persons: Emily Cook, , , Cook, Jennifer Morrell, Al Schmidt, Schmidt, ” Schmidt, “ We’ve, , ’ ”, Walter Griffith Jr, you’re, Griffith, “ They’re, Denise Williams, I’ve, ” Cook, we’ve, Theodore “ T.J, ” Fitzgerald, Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama, Fitzgerald, Sam Sanguedolce, Sanguedolce, Bryan Steil, Romilda Crocamo, ” Crocamo, I’m Organizations: Republicans, Republican Legislature, Republican, ” Lawmakers, Justice Department, Democrat, Trump, U.S . Rep, Cook, Associated Press, AP Locations: BARRE, Pa, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County, Utah, Colorado, , In Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina, Philadelphia, Illinois, Luzerne County’s
President Joe Biden on Friday will mark the second anniversary of the attack on the Capitol by awarding the Presidential Citizens Medal to a dozen election workers, officials and law-enforcement officers for "contributions to our democracy" before and during the riot, a White House official said. "These 12 heroes demonstrated courage and selflessness during a moment of peril for our nation," the official said. Other elected officials receiving the medal are Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Al Schmidt, the former vice chair of Philadelphia’s Board of Elections. Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, left, is comforted by her mother, Ruby Freeman, during a House select committee hearing on June 21, 2022. Biden is also posthumously awarding the medal to Brian Sicknick, the Capitol Police officer who died the day after the riot after suffering two strokes.
Pennsylvania's incoming Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, announced Thursday that he is tapping a Republican who stood up to Donald Trump after the 2020 election to be the state's top elections official. As the vice chair of Philadelphia's Board of Elections, Al Schmidt was at the center of defending the 2020 vote in Pennsylvania, a key presidential battleground that narrowly went to President Joe Biden. Trump prematurely declared victory in the state and tried to stop Philadelphia officials from counting all the ballots there. In Pennsylvania, the top elections official, the secretary of the commonwealth, is nominated by the governor rather than elected. Schmidt said he is "honored to have the chance to continue working to protect the integrity of our elections and strengthen our democracy."
Jan 5 (Reuters) - Pennsylvania's newly elected Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro has named a Republican who resisted former President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud to oversee the battleground state’s elections. Schmidt also rejected Trump's claims that thousands of dead people were counted as Democratic votes in the election, calling the allegations "fantastical" and "ridiculous." President Joe Biden narrowly won Pennsylvania, and the state became a central front for Trump’s bogus fraud assertions. Pennsylvania law allows the governor to choose the state's elections chief. That made last November’s election, in which Shapiro defeated Republican Doug Mastriano who backed Trump's election lies, particularly consequential in the wake of efforts by Trump and his supporters to undermine the 2020 results.
The widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election as alleged by Trump and his supporters was never proven. Election officials in three other states -- North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada -- reported similar incidents. In 16 North Carolina counties alone, officials noted unusually aggressive observers during May's primary elections, according to a state election board survey. When told to stop, they said they were following guidance from a Republican Party lawyer, said Henderson County Election Director Karen Hebb. As head of the Election Integrity Network, Mitchell is training election observers and is trying to build grassroots networks of conservatives ahead of the midterms.
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