[00:00.000 --> 00:03.580] Good afternoon, Voting Village. My name is Thor Ascenti. I'm the Director of Business [00:03.580 --> 00:06.480] and Government Affairs at the National Cyber Security Center, and I'm Maddie [00:06.480 --> 00:10.420] Gullickson, and I'm the Program Manager for Secure the Vote. We'd like to thank all of you for [00:10.420 --> 00:13.660] having us here today. We're excited to have our presentation accepted to the [00:13.660 --> 00:17.960] Voting Village. We look forward to future years in our work in elections. So we're [00:17.960 --> 00:21.980] with the National Cyber Security Center. We're a 501c3 based out of Colorado Springs, [00:21.980 --> 00:26.180] Colorado. We were founded in 2016, and a lot of our big focus has to do with [00:26.180 --> 00:30.200] cyber innovation and awareness and solving world cyber problems. We work in [00:30.200 --> 00:34.660] areas like space, where we actually have a presentation from one of our fellow [00:34.660 --> 00:38.700] colleagues in the Aerospace Village today, as well as areas like smart city [00:38.700 --> 00:43.400] technology like ICS and K-12, so being the future of the cyber workforce. Our [00:43.400 --> 00:46.260] presentation today is about the electronic ballot return standards and [00:46.260 --> 00:50.480] guidelines, titled The Future of Voting. I want to start off by talking a little [00:50.480 --> 00:55.620] bit about who we are, what the program is, and kind of how we fit into this whole [00:55.620 --> 01:01.440] picture. I want to start off by acknowledging that Secure the Vote is a [01:01.440 --> 01:07.820] nonpartisan, multi-agency, multi-policy group that kind of goes after a [01:07.880 --> 01:12.040] layered challenge. A lot of the different things out there with groups like EAC, [01:12.740 --> 01:17.320] CIS, the Election Security ISAC, even groups like Verified Voting, MIT, [01:17.320 --> 01:22.260] Alliance for Securing Democracy, all tackle different aspects of our [01:22.260 --> 01:25.460] election security problem in the U.S. And the combination of all these has [01:25.460 --> 01:29.360] led to a brilliant ecosystem in the United States that allows us for us to be able to [01:29.360 --> 01:34.160] publish and listen to and advocate for different policy standards, guidelines, [01:34.160 --> 01:38.880] whether it be at the federal or state and local levels. And a lot of our focus has [01:38.880 --> 01:42.860] primarily been on the ways that we can identify different gaps in critical [01:42.860 --> 01:46.640] infrastructure related to elections. So the first gap that we've really [01:46.640 --> 01:50.200] identified that we really want to talk about, the reason why we're here again, is all [01:50.200 --> 01:54.580] about this gap where security exists in the conversation of election technology. [01:55.620 --> 01:59.640] Security traditionally over this past, you know, four or five years has become [01:59.640 --> 02:05.360] an even heightened level of focus in the world of election security. So we're not [02:05.360 --> 02:08.040] going to say that we're going to become the new experts, but the biggest thing [02:08.040 --> 02:13.040] for us is all about identifying the critical piece of the future of voting [02:13.040 --> 02:16.800] technology. And what it means is that we've identified that security, cyber [02:16.800 --> 02:21.020] security specifically, is a barrier to the future of election technology. And [02:21.020 --> 02:24.560] what that looks like is that if people with disabilities or overseas voters [02:24.560 --> 02:27.580] or even the everyday person who might have an emergency come up and they can't [02:27.580 --> 02:32.900] get to their mail ballot or in-person voting, that there's more and more calls, [02:32.900 --> 02:36.260] especially after the pandemic, that people want to do this. But the biggest [02:36.260 --> 02:40.420] thing, the community agrees, the security is an issue and is a barrier to the [02:40.420 --> 02:43.540] future of where these technologies can go. And that's why we're interested in the [02:43.540 --> 02:48.180] conversation today. A little more background on us and how we've kind of [02:48.180 --> 02:52.360] learned more about this space and why. Our program was started in the middle of [02:52.360 --> 02:55.880] 2018, specifically to work on helping address security issues for overseas [02:55.880 --> 03:00.020] voters. Since then, we've participated in reviewing post-election logs and got [03:00.020 --> 03:04.000] feedback from jurisdictions in 10 pilots involving the use of mobile and online [03:04.000 --> 03:09.600] voting between 2019 and 2020. And like all critics of online voting, in every [03:09.600 --> 03:14.240] single pilot, we saw the need for enhancing these technologies. We also saw [03:14.240 --> 03:18.000] that there was also increased demand. Of the pilots we worked in, there was at [03:18.000 --> 03:22.340] least two to one, if in some cases three to one, in more demand for more places to [03:22.340 --> 03:25.920] use it. But the number one reason people chose not to is because of security [03:25.920 --> 03:30.260] concerns. So the more we try and understand these technologies and find [03:30.260 --> 03:33.900] and understand the different things that address the gap between where we are [03:33.900 --> 03:38.440] today, where we are tomorrow, consistently between election officials, the security [03:38.440 --> 03:42.480] community, and the academic community, we consistently see that these technologies [03:42.480 --> 03:47.760] are not going away, but the desire for them is growing. And to go back to the [03:47.760 --> 03:54.220] beginning, security is still a barrier. And through those pilots, some of the [03:54.220 --> 04:00.480] things that we have seen that are part of that core security problem are [04:00.480 --> 04:04.480] critical need for end-to-end verification of votes that maintains the secrecy of [04:04.480 --> 04:08.520] the ballot, critical need for common standards around better verification [04:08.520 --> 04:14.180] procedures and policies. Again, there's really no federally mandated or [04:14.180 --> 04:20.100] even state-mandated requirements around these newer technologies. And so there is [04:20.460 --> 04:24.800] a need for common standards around voter information privacy procedures as well. [04:24.920 --> 04:30.780] And also one of the biggest concerns is that vulnerability of the voters devices [04:30.780 --> 04:36.960] that may have problems on them that could hurt the system and [04:36.960 --> 04:42.600] interfere with the vote. And so we really need to have a system in [04:42.600 --> 04:47.860] place and standards in place that these newer technologies can be held [04:47.860 --> 04:53.660] accountable to. We need pre-election reviews and post-election reviews. We [04:53.660 --> 04:59.020] need the same kind of a level of guidelines that are offered through the [04:59.020 --> 05:05.900] Voluntary Voting System guidelines, the EAC. And that's really where we are [05:05.900 --> 05:09.340] working with, we have a working group that is looking at these different [05:09.340 --> 05:15.120] issues. We continue to look at these issues through the pilots. But [05:15.120 --> 05:20.560] ultimately, again, we're really working on these questions because even in 2016 [05:20.560 --> 05:24.740] there were about 3 million overseas voters who were eligible to vote, but [05:24.740 --> 05:31.180] only 6.9 percent of them actually submitted a ballot, compared to a 72 [05:31.180 --> 05:35.900] percent rate of domestic voters who are eligible to vote. We're doing this [05:35.900 --> 05:41.800] because if disabled voters had had the same access that voters without [05:41.800 --> 05:46.500] disabilities had in the 2018 election, we would have seen a rate increase of [05:46.500 --> 05:51.880] about 2.35 million additional voters participating in the system. You know, [05:51.880 --> 05:56.900] ultimately we live in the 21st century and we shouldn't accept that people [05:56.900 --> 06:01.040] living overseas or with disabilities don't vote because they struggle with [06:01.040 --> 06:05.880] access to voting centers or because they lack the privacy to do so. And this [06:05.880 --> 06:11.440] just, this slide in particular, just demonstrates that technology is a part [06:11.440 --> 06:16.200] of voting and it is part of our infrastructure. We have email and fax are [06:16.200 --> 06:22.080] already continually used by over 31 states. We have web portals that are [06:22.080 --> 06:28.380] allowing people to return a ballot via a web portal. So the technology exists, it's [06:28.380 --> 06:33.420] moving in that direction. Again, we just believe that there needs to be a common [06:33.420 --> 06:39.640] set of standards and guidelines that can be used to help provide those guardrails [06:39.640 --> 06:47.540] as this technology develops. When we look back at our progress in voting, one of [06:47.540 --> 06:51.980] the biggest things, and this drives home the point that Forrest was making, is we [06:51.980 --> 06:56.900] see that most of our legislation around voting has had to do with undoing policy [06:56.900 --> 07:02.460] barriers that have kept, actively kept, people from voting. For the 21st [07:02.460 --> 07:06.520] century, what is that going to look like? It's going to look like trying to undo [07:06.520 --> 07:11.800] the barriers of technology and security as, as the things that prohibit people [07:11.800 --> 07:19.060] from voting. And so as we look to that future, we want to, we want to participate [07:19.060 --> 07:22.620] with as many people as possible and collaborate with as many people as [07:22.620 --> 07:26.280] possible to figure out what does that future state of voting look like? What is [07:26.280 --> 07:29.860] the timeline going to look like in the next 10 to 30 years of legislation that [07:29.860 --> 07:33.960] we see, of technological advancements that we see? You know, these are some [07:33.960 --> 07:37.900] ideas. These are some of the things that we'd love to see happen. And, and we [07:37.900 --> 07:42.100] understand the concern about, about these, these types of technologies taking [07:42.100 --> 07:48.860] place today. But the point is, is that, that it isn't going away. And, and so how [07:48.860 --> 07:51.560] do we work together? How do we come together to figure out how to make these [07:51.560 --> 07:56.640] things happen? Because we believe that with the collective genius of the [07:56.640 --> 08:00.600] elections community and of the security community, we can make end-to-end voter [08:00.600 --> 08:08.480] verification a reality. We can make full-scale citizen audits of these a [08:08.480 --> 08:14.280] reality. And so this is what we envision when we see the timeline going forward. [08:14.280 --> 08:18.640] And, and what gets us excited about it. You know, there's, with, with the different [08:19.500 --> 08:23.320] organizations that we've worked with, blockchain has been one of the, one of the [08:23.320 --> 08:26.620] ways that people have been able to, one of the technologies that people have [08:26.620 --> 08:30.640] used. Is that the right way? Does it complicate things? Or does it make it [08:30.640 --> 08:39.920] safer? AWS as, as the secure cloud service, is that the right way? These are [08:39.920 --> 08:42.820] the kinds of conversations that we need to be having, not just the binary [08:42.820 --> 08:47.680] conversation of it shouldn't or it should. The fact is that it is. And so we [08:47.680 --> 08:56.600] have to have that conversation about what this looks like moving forward. And, [08:56.600 --> 09:01.420] where we wanted to come to the voting village, which is really that we want [09:01.420 --> 09:07.880] feedback. We know so many of you have thought through these things. And we want [09:07.880 --> 09:11.780] to provide that place where you can offer your advice and your feedback on [09:11.780 --> 09:18.500] how we can make these things the safest, the most secure, but ultimately the most [09:18.500 --> 09:22.540] accessible. Because that's the, that's the whole point of this thing in the, in [09:22.540 --> 09:27.480] the first place. And to get really sentimental about voting, I mean, it is [09:27.480 --> 09:33.060] truly the bedrock of our representative democracy. If we still have significant [09:33.060 --> 09:39.380] barriers to voting, that whole piece, the integrity of that, that institution in [09:39.380 --> 09:46.800] itself is, is undermined. And so, so we want your feedback. And so if you, if you [09:46.800 --> 09:52.360] have thoughts, questions about it, even, please email us at securethevote [09:52.360 --> 09:57.860] at cyber-center.org. We also will have an RFI that's going to go live this month [09:57.860 --> 10:02.380] for solutions to some of these key issues, like we talked through, that are [10:02.380 --> 10:08.420] associated with, with mobile or online voting. So please email us to receive a [10:08.420 --> 10:12.320] notification when that goes live. If you've got that next brilliant idea of [10:12.320 --> 10:15.160] how you think you can tackle a piece of this. [10:15.160 --> 10:20.060] Excellent. Well, a big thanks again to the Voting Village for having us. We [10:20.060 --> 10:25.560] want to thank you and just reaffirm that this issue is not just a security [10:25.560 --> 10:28.880] technology, security communities issue. This goes out to all the different [10:28.880 --> 10:31.860] election officials, government organizations, nonprofits, and think [10:31.860 --> 10:35.820] things out there that are all working on this. Whether you're against it or for [10:35.820 --> 10:40.320] it, there's a component of this that will be driving into the future. And if it's [10:40.320 --> 10:43.640] going to happen, the best thing we can do is make it as secure as possible. So [10:43.640 --> 10:44.040] thank you. [10:48.940 --> 10:52.300] Hi, this is Colorado Governor Jared Polis and I want to thank everyone [10:52.300 --> 10:56.680] involved with this effort to secure the vote. Voting is the most sacred right [10:56.680 --> 11:01.480] that we have in America. It's the right that protects all of our other rights, [11:01.480 --> 11:05.580] which means that we need to do everything that we can to safeguard [11:06.160 --> 11:13.060] voting. I'm proud that Colorado has been a national model for voting rights. With [11:13.060 --> 11:18.420] our all mail ballot system that guarantees paper trail for every vote, [11:18.420 --> 11:21.880] same day registration and so many other protections, we're not only [11:21.880 --> 11:25.760] recognized as one of the most secure election states, but one of the top [11:25.760 --> 11:30.140] states for voter participation and turnout as well. But we can't rest on [11:30.140 --> 11:34.120] our laurels and our past success. We need to continue to meet the challenges [11:34.120 --> 11:39.280] of today and tomorrow, which is why I'm proud. The one initiative led by the [11:39.280 --> 11:44.080] National Cybersecurity Center started right here in Colorado to secure the [11:44.080 --> 11:48.840] vote pilot program, where over 4,000 Coloradans use the blockchain secured [11:48.840 --> 11:53.320] mobile voting application to cast their vote. That program from Denver has [11:53.320 --> 11:57.120] since expanded to six other states, and now includes other technologies to [11:57.120 --> 12:01.980] also secure our vote and empower voters. Free and fair elections are the [12:01.980 --> 12:05.620] bedrock of democracy, and we need to work together to protect the integrity [12:05.620 --> 12:10.260] of our elections together. Thank you for your work on this critical and [12:10.260 --> 12:14.260] important initiative to make sure everyone has confidence that their vote [12:14.260 --> 12:15.440] will be counted. [12:16.840 --> 12:20.360] Good afternoon. My name is Jocelyn Beccaro. I'm the Director of Elections [12:20.360 --> 12:23.620] for the City and County of Denver. And I want to thank the National [12:23.620 --> 12:28.100] Cybersecurity Center for the invitation to be a part of this video. I am here [12:28.100 --> 12:31.720] because COVID-19 has highlighted the need for more options for voters to [12:31.720 --> 12:36.320] vote safely and securely, particularly voters with disabilities. Many states [12:36.320 --> 12:40.420] already offer some form of electronic delivery and return for some voters, [12:40.420 --> 12:43.780] but unfortunately, these voting technologies exist without robust [12:43.780 --> 12:48.640] standards for safety and security. This crisis has shown why we can't wait. [12:48.640 --> 12:53.420] We need all levels of government security, policy, and technology to join [12:53.420 --> 12:57.120] with election officials to establish better standards and guidelines to [12:57.120 --> 13:02.820] implement new technology solutions so all voters can vote safely and securely. [13:02.820 --> 13:04.080] Thank you so much. [13:05.060 --> 13:09.600] Hi, my name is Amelia Powers Gardner. I'm the Utah County Clerk Auditor, and [13:09.600 --> 13:13.500] I'm here to bring you a challenge, one that I'm confident you can accomplish. [13:13.800 --> 13:18.540] As you know, this week, we mark an important milestone. Astronauts safely [13:18.540 --> 13:22.140] returned to Earth from the space station for the first time aboard a [13:22.140 --> 13:26.320] private vessel. Add to that the mere fact that we have put men on the [13:26.320 --> 13:31.500] moon, can 3D print internal organs, and there's even emerging technology [13:31.500 --> 13:36.560] that can edit DNA. Technology has radically transformed the human [13:36.560 --> 13:40.980] experience and solved a great number of our challenges, both large and [13:40.980 --> 13:46.640] small. It's time to start finding voting solutions for the 21st century. [13:46.640 --> 13:51.700] It's no longer acceptable to suppress votes of an entire demographic or [13:51.700 --> 13:57.320] to accept low voter turnout because of weather, natural disasters, or a [13:57.320 --> 14:02.680] pandemic. Mobile voting is the future of elections. Upcoming generations [14:02.880 --> 14:07.040] demand it, and our current generations need to embrace it as a solution [14:07.040 --> 14:12.780] to age-old problems with voting. Our current voting methods require extensive [14:12.780 --> 14:17.780] logistics and cost a lot of money while still failing many voters, including [14:17.780 --> 14:22.760] those with disabilities, those with lower socioeconomic status, and our men [14:22.760 --> 14:27.200] and women serving us in the military. It's time to stop saying it can't be [14:27.200 --> 14:33.380] done, and it is time to start finding a way to do mobile voting. The industry [14:33.380 --> 14:37.900] needs to create standards that innovators can strive to accomplish and [14:37.900 --> 14:42.600] that election administrators like myself can use to judge potential solutions [14:42.600 --> 14:49.300] by. Join me in improving the way we do democracy in the 21st century. Thank you.