start	end	text
0	5000	Good afternoon. My name is Ben Hublin and I'm chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission
5000	11340	or EAC. I appreciate the opportunity to speak at this year's Virtual Voting Village.
11340	16900	I wish I was able to be there in person. Last year I certainly enjoyed the experience and saw a real
16900	23020	step forward in the dialogue and discourse around making our elections more secure. I'll jump into
23020	28080	that more in a minute, but for some background I wanted to start by talking about the EAC
28600	36440	and what we do. The EAC was established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, or HAVA,
36440	43340	which was Congress's response to the Florida 2000 election. The EAC is an independent bipartisan
43340	50000	commission charged with ensuring secure, accurate, and accessible elections by developing guidance
50000	56100	to meet HAVA requirements, adopting Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, or the VVSG,
56100	60960	and serving as a national clearinghouse of information on election administration.
61540	68420	The EAC also accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, as well as administers
68420	75840	the use of HAVA funds. We are a small agency, which you might not know by the attention we get.
75840	80920	We certainly try to punch above our weight class as an agency with one of the smallest budgets in
80920	86940	federal government. But as an agency, we are committed to providing helpful and up-to-date
86940	91900	information to promote the continuity and integrity of election administration,
92140	97120	despite new challenges such as COVID-19 and cyber interference.
99840	107160	In FY20, the EAC received a budgetary increase from our all-time low, and as an agency we focused
107160	113840	on investing these precious resources wisely in a way that would help the elections. I'm pleased
113840	119300	to be able to tell you today that a number of our new initiatives are already underway and hopefully
119300	125600	already making an impact. As part of our efforts, the EAC launched the Cyber Access and Security
125600	133000	Program this April to provide access to security training, best practices, expertise, and other
133000	138280	assistance for election officials and their IT staff. An important part of this program has been
138280	143840	the addition of staff who have a range of experience in the cybersecurity and elections
143840	150180	fields, including years of expertise in software development and security analysis. The program
150180	155480	partners with public and private security experts with a goal that election officials will have
155480	160640	access to the most up-to-date and best-in-class information available through the EAC's Clearing
160640	167500	House. One of the Cyber Access and Security Program's first projects was in response to a
167500	172780	concern we'd heard from election officials about the volume of cyber expertise and recommendations
172780	177860	that were being developed around the election space and how it would be helpful to have an
177860	184360	organized repository. The EAC's election security preparedness page is designed to be a one-stop
184360	190020	shop for election cybersecurity guidance. It includes resources from federal agencies,
190020	196880	nonprofits, academia, and local election officials. These resources include the work of a number
196880	203360	of individuals associated with the voting village, so thank you. The page was recently updated with
203360	209740	new guidance on security topics that have developed since the 2016 election, and it's been reorganized
209740	215200	to make the information easier to find and use. In addition to pulling resources together,
215200	220640	we've recognized that many of the great resources that have been produced only realize their full
220640	225400	benefit if election officials have a solid foundation to view them from. With that in mind,
225400	231060	in June, the EAC announced online cybersecurity training offered at no cost and developed
231060	235920	specifically for election officials through a partnership with the Center for Tech and Civic
235920	243060	Life, or CTCL. The online training consists of both video and written materials separated into
243060	249740	three modules, Cybersecurity 101, 201, and 301. This is self-paced training, and it provides
249740	256300	foundational knowledge on cybersecurity terminology, best practices in election offices,
256300	261700	practical applications, and communication around cyber incidents. We hope this is a resource that
261700	267660	can benefit any local election official and their staff. We've been promoting it to local election
267660	273080	officials, and you can too. This is available to every state and local election official in the
273080	280560	country at no cost through May of 2021. So far, nearly 200 state and local election officials
280560	285420	who are responsible for running elections for millions of voters and their partners have
285420	291200	completed this training. We plan to continue to focus on training efforts going forward
291200	296460	particularly if our funding trend continues. I would also mention that later this month we're
296460	301980	launching both a risk management and a crisis management online workshop for state and local
301980	309120	election officials. Along those lines, we'll be hosting a joint effort with CISA, an online
309120	314600	risk management tool, allowing election officials at the local level to easily measure and mitigate
314600	321780	risks to their specific environments. Finally, our cyber access and security team is updating
321780	327800	materials currently posted to the EAC website and is working to develop new material related
327800	333080	to vulnerability disclosure programs, social engineering mitigation, and other education
333080	340800	efforts. Another area our cyber access and security team has been working on is non-voting
340800	346580	election technology. Not the best name, but an area of great importance when it comes to securing
346580	352220	our election infrastructure and maintaining public confidence in the electoral process.
352240	358100	First and foremost, I think we all recognize that when you look at the cyber risk profile of
358100	364980	elections, that non-voting election technology like poll books, election night reporting,
364980	370540	and statewide voter registration databases are all potential targets. This is not a secret.
370540	375440	Everyone's been talking about this since 2016, and in fact there have been a number of bills
375440	381020	introduced in Congress to try to do something about the fact that we don't have standards or
381400	387560	a certification program for this type of technology, even though some states do. We know, however, that
387560	393160	the nature of these systems don't necessarily lend themselves to a voluntary voting system
393160	400360	guideline style certification program. With that mind, the EAC has partnered with the Center for
400360	407520	Internet Security, or CIS, and a number of states to pilot a technology verification program focused
407520	412980	on non-voting election technology, including, as I mentioned earlier, electronic poll books,
412980	418680	election night reporting websites, and electronic ballot delivery systems. This program is called
418680	425960	the Rapid Architecture-Based Election Technology Verification, or RABiT-V. It relies on a risk-based
425960	432040	approach that allows rapid verification of manufacturers' security claims. The RABiT-V
432040	438280	pilot program supports agile software development with a verification process that anticipates and
438280	445280	supports rapid product changes. Goals of the pilot program include incentivizing high-quality
445280	451800	modern design of IT systems updated in smaller, more manageable cycles that reduce cost of
451800	458280	verification and re-verification with more reliable and consistent outcomes for the purchasers of
458280	463960	these systems. I'm excited about the prospects of this pilot, but no matter what, I'm confident that
463960	469640	we'll learn more about how to think about these technologies and can apply those lessons moving
469640	473900	forward. We're committed to expanding the EAC's clearinghouse function
473900	479950	to include information and best practices around non-voting election technology.
480580	486360	And speaking of voting technology, certainly there's nothing more central to the EAC's mission
486360	493340	than the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines. The VVSG are the benchmark for voting system
493340	498920	usability and security across the country. Unfortunately, the standard that is primarily
498920	504540	used was written over a decade ago and therefore preceded many of the more recent technical
504540	513480	innovations that we see in other areas of our lives. The update process for the VVSG is very
513480	520500	public and technical. We received over 1,600 unique public comments on the draft principles
520500	526720	and guidelines. We heard from industry stakeholders, voting advocates, and members of the public.
526720	532660	I'm hopeful that the VVSG 2.0 is on track to be approved by the end of the year.
532700	537080	In order to meet that deadline, the EAC is working on several parallel paths
537080	544020	addressing the VVSG 2.0 technical requirements, test assertions, the testing and certification
544020	549960	program manual, and the voting system test laboratory program manual. So we've got our
549960	555320	work cut out for us, but again, we're pushing through on this and we're working on all of
555320	561480	these areas right now to try to get it done by the end of the year. Speaking of the end of the
561480	569600	year, as we look at the 2020 election, certainly it's important to look back at the 2016 election
569600	576200	and where we've come. As I look at the elections community, it's certainly come together and made
576200	584960	tremendous progress since 2016 and the first voting village at DEFCON in 2017. The EAC regularly
584960	590480	collaborates with partners at the federal, state, and local levels. Earlier you heard from some of
590480	596980	those federal partners at NSA, CISA, and FBI. We also work with the National Association of
596980	602340	Secretaries of State, National Association of State Election Directors, and local election
602340	609640	official organizations to help reach the nearly 9,000 local election officials across the country.
610120	615640	Today, election officials are better educated about cyber and physical threats to their systems
615640	621500	and have access to resources to better help defend those systems. Manufacturers of voting
621500	626960	equipment are also changing their behavior. They are reporting and sharing threat intelligence,
626960	632480	opening up to researchers via bug bounty programs, and working with the EAC to issue critical
632480	638000	software patches much more quickly. And so certainly, you know, it's hard to think about
638000	645920	elections right now without thinking about the upcoming 2020 election and the impact of COVID-19.
645920	652740	Certainly that's why this voting village has been done virtually. And COVID-19 is presenting
652740	659440	unprecedented challenges around our country. And of course, the election administration community
659920	665560	is facing real challenges in determining how to best conduct elections in this environment.
665560	671300	At the EAC, we've pivoted substantially to focus our attention on how we can support state and
671300	676540	local election officials as they learn from their primaries and make tough decisions about the
676540	684280	general election. Between the CARES Act election money and the earlier Consolidated Appropriations
684280	692580	Act of 2020, EAC has distributed about $825 million to the states this year to assist with federal
692580	698300	elections. And we know this funding will be crucial because of the additional expenses related to
698300	704660	running elections during the pandemic. For most jurisdictions, that means running the largest
704660	711220	mail or absentee ballot election they've ever run, but also having safe in-person options as well,
711220	716680	which means social distancing in the polling places and personal protective equipment being
716680	725260	available. And so in ways to address that, we have since April, we've held public hearings.
725260	731000	We've also hosted a number of Zoom videos or web chats where we've brought together experts from the
731000	737620	elections field to discuss these best practices and lessons learned on unrelevant topics to running
737620	743700	an election right now during the pandemic. We've heard about challenges and lessons learned from
743700	750340	ramping up vote-by-mail and heard very practical examples and success stories, as well as pitfalls
750340	756040	and how to avoid them. Because each state runs elections somewhat differently, each response to
756040	761600	this pandemic has been somewhat different. With the changes to the election process,
761600	768400	you know, we know that creates an environment that could be taken advantage of for misinformation or
768400	774540	disinformation. So certainly that is an area of concern, an area that we need to continue to work
775240	781940	on. As you know, we've seen the dates of primaries change, you've seen processes and procedures
781940	788520	change. You know, there will be different polling places because some are not available. Maybe they
788520	795040	were in somewhere like a senior center that's no longer available. And so efforts like the National
795040	802220	Association of Secretaries of State's Trusted Info 2020 effort will be even more crucial.
802220	808580	And it is to the degree that folks from the voting village and other communities can help
808580	814940	promote state and local election officials as that trusted source, pushing out that information
814940	821580	that we know is accurate and helping to combat disinformation is going to be crucial this
821580	829720	election year. And speaking of ways for the voting village to help out, you know, we know there's
829720	836260	plenty of work to do and more work that needs to be done. Election officials, like I mentioned
836260	842860	earlier, absolutely, you know, working around the clock to adapt to the COVID environment
843490	849570	certainly can use assistance, as I mentioned before, on misinformation and disinformation.
849860	856980	But also, you know, researchers, one way to help is to responsibly engage with election officials
856980	863060	and manufacturers. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA,
863060	868960	recently published a guide to vulnerability reporting for Americans' election administrators.
868960	874280	It walks election officials through the steps of establishing a vulnerability disclosure program
874280	879920	so that researchers don't end up having their bug reports ignored or having their activities
879920	886200	reported to the FBI as hacking attempts. Another way to help this year is to serve as a poll worker
886200	892120	and reaching out to your local election official to see if you can sign up. Matt Blaze has promoted
892120	898740	this for some time and I certainly appreciate his poll worker recruitment efforts, but this year
899600	904920	poll workers are needed more than ever. It's never an easy thing to recruit poll workers, but we've
904920	911760	seen a significant dropout with COVID-19. Obviously, in a pandemic, it's a personal decision
911760	918160	about serving as a poll worker, but if you're able and willing, that is desperately needed.
918160	925600	In fact, the EAC is announcing that September 1st, we're going to push National Poll Worker
925600	930220	Recruitment Day this year to try to help election officials around the country
930880	937120	get enough poll workers. By encouraging more people to become poll workers in their communities,
937120	942840	National Poll Worker Recruitment Day aims to address the critical shortage of poll workers,
942840	949100	strengthen our democracy, inspire greater civic engagement and volunteerism, and help ensure free
949100	954960	and fair elections in November and beyond. While the specific duties and compensation vary
955560	961860	depending on location, poll workers are the face of the election during voting. Most jurisdictions
961860	967940	task election workers with setting up and preparing the polling location, welcoming voters,
967940	974060	verifying voter registrations, and issuing ballots. Poll workers also help ensure voters
974060	979920	understand the voting process by demonstrating how to use voting equipment and explaining voting
979920	985780	procedures. Poll workers with technical backgrounds are especially important in jurisdictions where
985780	992220	newer voting equipment will be used for the first time, and voters may need a little extra assurance
992920	999320	to become comfortable with the new technology. I hope to see you in person at next year's Voting
999320	1006120	Village. In the meantime, if there are ways the EAC can help or recommendations you have for us,
1006120	1012220	please reach out. Let's keep the conversation going. And again, one last time, if you can do it,
1012220	1014900	please consider serving as a poll worker. Thank you.