Anne Arundel County, A TU Partner, Recognized By Federal Government For Election Work

Press release from Towson University:

By Cody Boteler on March 12, 2021

Towson University's Natalie Scala, an expert in election security, casts her ballot
at an on-campus dropoff location in 2020. (Photo by Alex Wright).

The U.S. Election Assistance Committee (EAC) named Maryland’s Anne Arundel County,
which partnered with Towson University faculty and students to improve election security,
winners in the 2020 Clearinghouse Awards, a national competition for best practices in election administration.

Faculty members Natalie Scala, an associate professor in the Department of Business Analytics & Technology Management,
and Joshua Dehlinger, a professor in the Department of Computer & Information Sciences, developed training modules for local elections boards to bolster security.

Anne Arundel County used those modules and won in the category of Outstanding Innovation in Election Cybersecurity & Technology.

“We have worked with and supported 10 diverse undergraduate and graduate students
from five departments to do significant portions of this research,” Dehlinger says.
“They are the real stars of this work and deserve recognition.”

Scala, who will also receive a 2021 Regents’ Faculty Award for Excellence in Public Service, says the team hopes to continue working with Anne Arundel and other Maryland counties
to empower poll workers to identify and mitigate potential threats.

“It is humbling but also exciting to see the county be honored for their work and
the overall partnership,” she says.

In its nomination for the award, Anne Arundel County officials say the county wants to extend its partnership
with Towson University by continuing the training and expanding it to cover more topics.

“As an academic, our research doesn’t often escape the pages of a journal or conference.
It is incredibly rewarding to see that the work can make a positive impact on the
community,” Dehlinger says. “TU provides the kind of collaborative, cross-disciplinary
research environment to nurture and support exactly these kinds of projects.”

The EAC was established in 2002 by an act of Congress. It is an independent, bipartisan
commission charged with ensuring secure, accurate and accessible elections.

Towson University faculty and staff experts can provide commentary and analysis on
topics in the news. For help finding a faculty expert email Matt Palmer at mpalmer@towson.edu.

This press release was produced by Towson University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.