Joint GCC SCC Statement on Senate Intelligence Committee's First Russian Interference Report

For Immediate Release — July 25, 2019 —

Washington, D.C. — Today, following the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee's first report examining Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election, Assistant Director Bob Kolasky from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Election Assistance Commission Chairwoman Christy McCormick, National Association of Secretaries of State President and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, Keith Ingram, President, National Association of State Election Directors and Director of Elections, Texas Secretary of State, David Stafford, Escambia County Supervisor of Elections—all members of the Government Coordinating Council Executive Committee—and Sector Coordinating Council Chairman Chris Wlaschin and Vice-Chairman Bryan Finney issued the following joint statement:

“The 2018 midterm elections saw unprecedented levels of coordination between all levels of government and the private sector election companies, and the 2020 election will improve on that effort. Currently, all 50 states are members of the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), along with more than 1,800 local jurisdictions, and fourteen private sector companies making it the fastest growing ISAC in history. Additionally, all 50 states, two territories, and 96 localities have intrusion detection systems, known as Albert sensors, on their networks, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is providing remote vulnerability scanning and risk assessments upon request to government and private sector entities.  In June, 47 states, three territories, more than a thousand local officials, their private sector partners and the federal government participated in the second annual ‘Tabletop the Vote’ exercise to improve preparedness, information sharing, response, and recovery.

The democratic process requires a secure and resilient election, and the members of the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council (GCC) and Sector Coordinating Council (SCC) will continue to work together and with our colleagues to secure the nation’s election infrastructure and combat any foreign interference to protect the 2020 elections.”

For more information about the GCC or to speak with the signers of today’s joint statement please contact:

Maria Benson, National Association of Secretaries of State, 202-624-3528, mbenson@sso.org

Brenda Bowser Soder, U.S. Election Assistance Commission, 202-897-9285, bsoder@eac.gov

Amy Cohen, National Association of State Election Directors, 240-801-6029, acohen@nased.org

Sara Sendek, U.S Department of Homeland Security, 202-697-0251, CISAmedia@hq.dhs.gov

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Media Contact:
Maria (Dill) Benson, Director of Communications
mbenson@sso.org | 202-624-3528 | www.nass.org