More than $3 million in state funding is now available to help Washington counties enhance election security, the Office of the Secretary of State announced.
The Information Security Grant program administered through the office will award grants of up to $80,000 annually to help Washington counties with election security efforts, a release from the office stated. The funding can go toward purchase or upgrades of security hardware and software and hiring information technology personnel, among other uses.
In 2022, the Washington State Legislature provided $3.12 million in funding to support the Washington Secretary of State’s office to protect election systems from cyber threats and other security risks. The funding addresses issues at a time of “inconsistent federal support” for local election security, the release stated.
“Election security and protecting our elections systems from cyber threats remain the top priority of my office,” Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs stated in the release. “A significant amount of work to secure our elections, however, resides at the county level. Therefore, I have directed the distribution of up to $80,000 annually in the form of grants to each county to enhance their election security efforts.”
Counties that wish to apply for a grant must have an installed and operational Albert sensor that is monitoring the network for cyberthreats and attacks, and must notify the Office of the Secretary of State of their interest by Dec. 31.
On Tuesday, Nov. 29, all 39 Washington counties certified the results of the general election.
“The Nov. 8 General Election was a remarkable demonstration of our counties’ commitment to providing access to free and fair elections that are secure and accurate,” Hobbs said. “However, we know there is a lot we can do to enhance capabilities to better protect our elections from cyberthreats and other bad actors. I look forward to working closely with our counties to strengthen the reliability and integrity of our elections for all Washingtonians.”
