By Jacob Dimond
jake@yelmonline.com
The Office of the Secretary of State is set to provide each county’s election officials with up to $80,000 in funding to improve local election security. More than $3 million is available statewide through the Information Security Funds program, created by the Office of the Secretary of State.
The funding intends to help Washington counties strengthen election security efforts by using the money to purchase or upgrade security software and hardware, hire IT security personnel, make structural improvements and more.
“Election security and protecting our election systems from cyber threats remain my office’s top priority,” Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said in a news release. “A significant amount of work to secure our elections, however, resides at the county level. This additional funding will go a long way in helping counties enhance their election security efforts, especially as cyber threats continue to escalate in severity and frequency.”
The new program was announced by Hobbs last November and had 25 counties apply for funds in its first year to support local projects. The Office of the Secretary of State has provided over $1.57 million to date.
The program also provides versatility to address several important issues at a time of “inconsistent federal support” for local election protection, the Office of the Secretary of State said in a release.
“Every day, election officials and workers across Washington are committed to providing access to free and fair elections that are secure and accurate,” Hobbs said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to work closely with our counties to strengthen the reliability and integrity of our elections for all Washingtonians. We know there is a lot we can do together to better protect our elections from cyber threats and other bad actors.”
Washington’s Office of the Secretary of State administers several areas within state government, including the management of state elections, the registration of corporations and charities and governing the use of the state flag and state seal.
The office also manages the State Archives and State Libraries, documents of extraordinary stories from Washington’s history in Legacy Washington, and the Combined Fund Drive for charitable giving.
