Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council Holds Winter Meeting to Discuss Path Forward on Election Security and Resilience

For Immediate Release — Feb. 22, 2021 — Washington, D.C. — The Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council (GCC) held its winter meeting virtually the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, to discuss lessons learned from the 2020 election and ways to improve coordination between the federal government and state and local election officials. The members of the GCC Executive Committee – Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agen­cy (CISA) Assistant Director Bob Kolasky, U.S. Election Assistance Commission Chairman Ben Hovland, National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) Presi­dent Maggie Toulouse Oliver, National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) President Michelle Tassinari, and Escambia County (Florida) Supervisor of Elections David Stafford – released the following statement:

“The GCC meeting demonstrates that the election community continues to be uni­fied and committed to working together on election cybersecurity. It was an oppor­tunity to assess what went well in the 2020 election cycle and how we can improve election security and resiliency in future American elections.

“As the nation faced the worst pandemic in a century, state and local election offi­cials worked to ensure voters could participate safely, while also implementing new and expanded cybersecurity safeguards and countering misinformation and disinfor­mation. This required an unprecedented level of coordination between all levels of government. Going forward, we will continue to coordinate as we examine lessons learned from these challenges and apply them to future elections.

“The American people always have a role to play too. We ask that voters continue to remain engaged in the process, and remember that their state and local election offi­cials are the best source for accurate, up-to-date information about voting and the election process. Protecting elections requires a sustained collaborative effort to en­sure they remain secure and resilient.”

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