News & Insights
We’re Making History in Real Time.
Our timely insights share informed perspectives on the rapidly evolving story of Election Technology, as it unfolds.
House Hearing on Election Security Broaches Supply Chain Issues
The Committee on House Administration, the committee with oversight responsibility for matters relating to federal elections, is holding a hearing today entitled “2020 Election Security: Perspectives from Voting System Vendors and Experts.” The CEOs of the three voting machine makers (Election Systems & Software, Hart InterCivic, Dominion Voting Systems) are providing written testimonies, two of which include statements about supply chain risk. Supply chain risk management is a timely topic.
OSET Institute Returns to Annual Copenhagen Democracy Summit
For the second year in a row, Joy London, a member of the OSET Institute’s leadership team attended the Copenhagen Democracy Summit at the scenic Harborside Royal Danish Playhouse from June 27th-28th. London, the Institute’s Associate General Counsel & Director of International Development, returned to Denmark, where she continued to build the Institute’s network of global democracy advocates, including several members of the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity (TCEI) — an organization, launched at last year’s Summit by the Alliance of Democracies (AoD). Here is her fascinating recount of the Conference…
Are There Cyberterrorist Threats to Elections?
On the same day H.R.1 was introduced by Sarbanes, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18) introduced H.R.52 – SAFETI Act - the Security for the Administration of Federal Election from Terrorists Intervention Act of 2019. Unlike H.R.1, H.R.52 is short — just two pages …but what it calls for was enough to get our attention about an aspect not previously focused on…
Thinking and Acting Locally for the Nation’s Sake— A Strategy for Improving Election Security
This is the first of a two-part article by our Associate General Counsel and Director for International Development, Joy London, that considers a local, state-based strategy for improving the nation’s election security rather than purely a top-down federal approach.
A 116th Opportunity: New Congress to Offer Ambitious Election Reform Bill to Defend Democracy
We’ve said it many times and it bears worth repeating: foreign interference in U.S. elections is a threat to our democracy. The security of critical election infrastructure is the focal point of the OSET Institute’s mission. So, OSET leadership was pleased to learn that on January 3, 2019, the opening day of the 116th session of Congress, the newly elected House Democratic majority, led by Speaker-designate Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12), will have its first order of legislative business—House Resolution #1 (“H.R.1”), a comprehensive election reform bill. The question is will H.R.1 become law, and be the change-agent needed to better defend democracy?
Update: On-going Efforts to Secure Government Websites
Among the many things we learned from our work with NBC Universal on the midterms this past November, was the reality that the Internet, like it or not is playing an ever-increasing role in the administration of elections. This means Web sites are going to have to go through a thorough review and in some cases overhaul to fortify them from unauthorized cyber-incursions…
Recapping the Copenhagen Democracy Summit
The Copenhagen Democracy Summit was held a little over a week ago on June 22, launching a global alliance for democracy, while that very form of government is under siege in many nations. This is the first of several reflections, recaps, and reporting on this inaugural event. Our Director of International Development Joy London, and our Chief Operating Officer, Gregory Miller we’re both fortunate to have received invitations to attend and participate in an invitational group of 250 attendees. Mr. Miller was unable to attend due to logistical conflict, however, Ms. London did in fact attend, and this article utilizes portions of her reporting back….
