Thread by @kazweida

This #SundayMorning , as the 2020 election approaches and every week a new candidate declares, we're wondering what has been done to ensure election integrity since 2016.

Spoiler Alert: NOT MUCH

Buckle up & let's take a tour of the broken system and how you can help.
(THREAD)

(2) Let's start at the beginning.

What currently exists to protect the integrity of our elections and who is in charge of it? The short answer is the DHS handles protecting infrastructure—polling places, voting machines, voter databases, etc.

dhs.gov/topic/election…

(3) There's a whole agency under the umbrella of DHS called Cyber & Infrastructure Security Agency. This is what they do.

They also helm public information efforts to warn about threats they can't protect from like influence campaigns on social media.

dhs.gov/CISA

(4) CISA works hand in hand with state and local authorities, as well as federal entities like the US Cyber Command.

In fact, it was US Cyber Command who warned DHS that Russia attempted to interfere with midterm elections in 2018.

cnn.com/2019/03/13/pol…

(5) Chris Krebs, the head of CISA, acknowledges they've done some things to resolve these concerns, like installing intrusion detection on various machines but that they are still scrambling to address the basics and working from a "technology deficit."

nextgov.com/cybersecurity/…

(6) The effort to secure our elections is hampered by an administration who seemingly benefited from foreign interference in 2016 & seems disinterested in devoting the proper resources to combat it.

And it's not just federal efforts that are undermined.
thedailybeast.com/trumps-dhs-gut…

(7) Even those who might be advising on the state and local levels are bogged down in bureaucracy in Washington, unable to get the proper clearances to effectively do their jobs.

This isn't a new problem, but it reflects a disturbing lack of priorities.
politico.com/story/2019/04/…

(8) There are efforts underway to change the landscape of the 2020 elections, including projects like this from DARPA. But experts warn these are stop-gap measures & election security is a complex web of concerns that don't begin & end at the ballot box.

motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/…

(9) At a minimum, electronic voting machines should be backed by paper ballots. These sort of redundant systems are a pivotal, basic approach to election security.

But beyond that, there is LOTS of work to do & it's not something technology alone can fix.
pcmag.com/commentary/367…

(10) That's why the Elections Integrity Act (or something similar), which stalled in the Senate, should be a priority for Congress. We need the resources to explore solutions and a task force dedicated to the effort and we needed it yesterday.

congress.gov/bill/115th-con…

(11) Another common sense solution? Release the Mueller report so we can get a complete picture of the efforts to interfere in 2016. We must understand the scope and effectiveness of foreign interference in order to design the right measures to combat it.

thehill.com/opinion/campai…

(12) Our efforts to secure election integrity shouldn't end there. For a more complete picture of how to combat foreign influence, educate yourself.

There have already been social media campaigns led by troll farms that you may have been amplifying.
brennancenter.org/issues/foreign…

(13) We need to become more aware of how these active measures work and how we can avoid being manipulated. Focus on doing your own research. Be careful what you amplify.

And continue to push Congress to insist on making election integrity a priority.

politico.com/story/2019/02/…

(14) Thanks to @sandycompany for the #SundayMorning thread suggestion. Come back next weekend and we'll do this again.

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