WA Secretary Of State Talks Election Security, Misinformation

OLYMPIA, WA — With just over a week until Election Day, state and local elections officials on Monday outlined physical and cybersecurity measures in place to protect the election's integrity and called on residents to share reports of any misinformation seen circulating online.

"We are anticipating, in the coming days, the eight days leading up to Election Day, and potentially the days after the election, of misinformation and disinformation campaigns being shared not only on social media but just across the internet," said Kim Wyman, Washington's Secretary of State. "When [you] see something that is incorrect or wrong, if you could let us know, that would be very helpful because we can work with our federal partners to make sure that it's addressed. If it's truly misinformation or disinformation, designed to try to get voters to behave in a different way and affect the outcome of the election, we want to make sure that we deal with that properly so that people can get the correct information about voting."

Wyman said the state has worked diligently since 2016 to ensure the highest security for elections in Washington, in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

"Make no mistake, there [are] definitely attempts at foreign interference in our elections, even right here in Washington," Wyman said. "We have been on guard for the last four years trying to make sure that our systems are secure."

Last Wednesday, the FBI held a news conference warning of potential interference appearing to originate from Russia and Iran.

"Sharing any type of misinformation or disinformation that you might see out on social media or on the internet can help us to really combat these efforts," Wyman said. "There are active campaigns by our adversaries, both foreign and domestic, and we want to make sure our voters have the right information so that they can participate in this election."

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Other local security partners, Wyman said, include members of the Washington National Guard, who offer a unique range of expertise.

"They have been on-site in the 2018 election cycle, as well as this year, to do engagements, to help us see if there are any vulnerabilities in our system, giving us feedback to shore it up, and then also helping us monitor the activity on the days leading into the election and election night itself," Wyman said. "This is really a bonus for us because our Washington National Guard members are in their day jobs working at places like Amazon and Microsoft and Boeing. These are some of the best cybersecurity minds in the country."

Another area of improvement since 2016, Wyman said, is the state's VoteWA portal, which completely overhauled two systems that were in dire need of upgrades. The modernized system is more secure, implementing things like multi-factor authentication and limiting access to information only at specific computers.

Other security measures include physical protections, including those built into the state's more than 500 ballot drop boxes.

"These ballot drop boxes were designed with security in mind," Wyman said. "Over the weekend, we had a demonstration of how important that is when a semi-truck took out one of the drop boxes in Snohomish County, but the ballots inside were protected and secured."

Learn more about some of the state's election security measures on the Secretary of State's website.

Helpful links for voters:

King County

• Register to vote or update registration online
• Find your nearest vote center
• 24/7 drop box locations
• Voters' pamphlet
• General information from King County Elections

Pierce County

• Register to vote or update registration online
• Find the nearest drop box location
• Read the state and county voters' pamphlets
• Request a ballot replacement