Dismantling CISA will make safeguarding elections harder

By: Mia Minkin, Oliver Ni, and Risa Dorf

In the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, U.S. intelligence confirmed widespread interference from Russia that targeted election systems, spread misinformation, and generally sought to divide and polarize American voters. Federal responses from the U.S. government to these attacks were led by Republicans in Congress, garnered bipartisan support, and were embraced by President Trump during his first term. In 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designated elections as “critical infrastructure,” and in 2018, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was established. CISA protects and supports critical infrastructure — including election systems as well as physical infrastructure such as pipelines and power grids — from ransomware, cyber threats, and counters foreign influence operations, and it has created a strong partnership between local and federal government officials.

Despite ongoing threats to physical and cyber infrastructure during the 2024 election, there has been a concerted effort to undermine the work and importance of CISA, marked by Trump’s return to the White House. In roughly the first month of the administration, key systems built to strengthen election security have been dismantled, more than 130 employees were dismissed, and funding was halted for two key cyber initiatives — the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC) and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC).

On March 21, in response to these cuts, Issue One hosted “Safeguarding Democracy: CISA’s Role in Protecting Elections,” a discussion centered around the role CISA plays in identifying and mitigating cyber threats and enhancing election security, highlighting why these cuts will make safeguarding our elections harder. The event featured a prominent slate of election experts from across the political spectrum including former Washington Secretary of State and CISA Senior Election Security Advisor Kim Wyman, Rhode Island Deputy Secretary of State Rob Rock, Supervisor of Elections in Marion County, Florida Wesley Wilcox, and Director of Elections in King County, Washington Julie Wise.

Here are some key excerpts from the panel about how CISA has supported the work of election officials since its inception:

Julie Wise of King County, Washington, on how CISA helped her office strengthen physical and cyber security ahead of the 2024 election: “CISA created an interactive floor plan of our 100,000+ square foot building that we were able to share with law enforcement so that they can be familiar with the building in case of an emergency. CISA also helped us to secure critically important grant funding for some really key safety and security upgrades, including a new PA system.”

Wesley Wilcox of Marion County, Florida, on the value of administering national support for cybersecurity when elections are run primarily at the local level: “Local election officials and even the states, by definition, have a limited scope. Monitoring cybersecurity on a national level just provides a much broader vantage point. I can only monitor and prepare cybersecurity for my county, but CISA and EI-ISAC, on a national level, are able to monitor counties across the U.S. and can see trends happening long before they would ever become apparent to the counties or the state. There is not a mechanism from a local or state perspective to replace that right there.”

Julie Wise on what a lack of federal support would mean for cybersecurity efforts in her jurisdiction: “Partners like CISA bring a commitment to public service, to safety, and bring the full power of American intelligence and law enforcement that you don’t see in private companies that are looking to make a profit.

“Protecting the security of our elections is not something that should be profit driven. It should be people driven. National support like CISA and EI-ISAC are irreplaceable, they set best practices and baseline standards and then work with us at the local level and the state level to achieve them.

“We’re not going to stop doing cybersecurity work, but losing those supports and resources, the monetary part with grants, means that we’re going to lose a more robust and comprehensive view of both the threats and ability to safeguard against them.”

Kim Wyman of Washington on how CISA has shepherded information sharing: “The connective tissue we’ve built over the last eight years is significant because it’s not just about cybersecurity. The information sharing element of CISA and this partnership really allowed a better threat assessment and response on the ground for local election officials.”

Rob Rock of Rhode Island on how citizen leaders can help and support election officials and CISA: “For those who are not election administrators, we need your help talking to your network, talking to your family, talking to your friends about election processes and election education, because it's going to take a village.

“We are election administrators and there are only so many of us. But you all have wide nets. You have people that trust you and respect you. So get out into the community and work with your election administrators and talk about the security of elections. The more that we talk about it, the more people are going to be confident.

“We saw it in Rhode Island when we did our voter integrity tour and people without a doubt walked away with more information than when they came. There's no reason why we can't have civil conversations at the dinner table or at a holiday event or at a work party or wherever. We can have those conversations. I know we can do it. It’s important that you help us out and engage your network and talk about how elections are run in your jurisdictions, because I can tell you what, people listen to you, they believe you. I think the more that we talk about it, the better we're going to be.”

Stripping election offices across the nation of key supportive structures through CISA has impaired a critical partnership between the federal government and state and local officials that bolster the security and safety of our country’s election infrastructure. Make no mistake — election offices and those who conduct elections are resilient and will continue to protect and uphold democratic processes — all the while, federal partnerships and information sharing resources that safeguard elections are structures that cannot be replicated or replaced.

Learn more about Issue One’s Faces of Democracy initiative and check out the full webinar recording.

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