In Focus This Week
I. In Focus This Week
How to protect yourself from phishing
Variety of ways available to protect personal and professional email
By M. Mindy Moretti
Electionline.org
Next week, the Democracy Fund, in partnership with Reed College, will release into the wild a new survey for local election officials (LEOs). The survey is looking to understand LEO’s views about roles, responsibilities and challenges of their work as well as amplify the voices LEOs in national, regional and state conversations about election administration.
Hours of work have gone into determine what information the survey will seek to find out and developing the questions.
And in today’s hyper sensitive cybersecurity environment, almost as many hours have gone into determining how the survey should be conducted so those who receive it feel secure in responding to unsolicited emails.
According to Joseph Lorenzo Hall, chief technologist with the Center for Democracy and Technology, phishing is one of the number one threats in cybersecurity, not just to election officials, but to everyone.
“It’s consistently the tactic used to get into systems around the world and we have evidence that it was likely how credentials to the Arizona voter registration database were stolen and then put up for sale on the dark web.” Hall said.
Hall said we know from the Reality Winner leak that around 120 state and local election officials were spear-phished — which is targeted phishing rather than opportunistic phishing — by Russian military intelligence (the GRU).
“Unfortunately, even with good training we are only able to reduce phishing attacks to about 50 percent, meaning there’s a good chance 60 or so election officials clicked on links or opened attachments sent by the Russians,” Hall said. “Hopefully those jurisdictions know now that they were targeted and have taken measures to mitigate phishing attacks.”
And phishing is so successful because as Hall said, it relies on social engineering. Essentially, rather than trying to find a flaw in the technical security of a system, ne’er-do-wells lean on the human element and try to get access to data, systems or install malware by tricking people into thinking they must click on a link or attachment or lulling them into a sense of security so that they click out of habit.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have to tell your readers that as more people come online, we can all expect to receive more email, meaning that the sheer scale of this problem is not going to get better as people are inundated in coming years with email,” Hall said. “And email, for all of its flaws — it is very difficult to secure — is still the lowest common denominator in terms of communicating online. As we move away from email and to messaging platforms like Signal/WhatsApp/Wickr/etc, email may become less of a problem.”
So how can you know if an email is safe to open and a link OK to click on? Short of picking up the phone and calling the sender — and who wants to do that?! — Hall had several things that people can do to ensure their online safety:
1. Be aware. Does a given email seem fishy? For example, did you just get an email that says, “Bob would like to share something on Dropbox” but you don’t use Dropbox to share files? That’s a good sign that you might want to wait and call Bob. Also, there may be obvious flaws in the message… for example, we once caught a phishing attempt from Chinese hackers because they misspelled the name of the staffer they were masquerading as.
2. Much more important than awareness is eliminating entirely the ability for you or your staff to get phished. It’s very important that for business systems and personal accounts that you turn on something called two-factor authentication. Two-factor is something you are probably already familiar with and may not realize it; for example, when you log into your bank while traveling, they may require you to enter in a temporary PIN number that they text to your phone. Why is this important? Because it’s highly unlikely that an attacker would have both your password and your phone, making it much harder for them to gain unauthorized access to your accounts.
Here is a handy list of all the online services that allow you to turn on two-factor. And common business operating systems (Windows/365, Google/Gsuite, Mac OS, Linux) all support some kind of two-factor so that you can enforce it across all your staff.
3. At some point, we all need to think hard about adopting an email standard called DMARC. DMARC, put simply, is a way to make sure that email from your domain cannot be spoofed. It essentially uses cryptography to “sign” good messages from all users on a domain like cdt.org. This means phishing attempts can’t provide that kind of mathematical proof (because they can’t log on to the system yet!) and all spoofing-based phishing attacks never even reach potential victim’s inboxes.
4. Finally, you may have seen some people have email programs that put a layer of indirection between the user and the URL… that is, some businesses use what is called “link rewriting” software like that provided by Proofpoint. This works by allowing their software to scan all email as it arrives and it replaces every URL with something that looks like https://proofpoint.com/check=http://example.com .
What happens here is that when someone clicks on it, there is a moment where Proofpoint can check the URL against know malware and phishing domains and warn the user or even prevent them from visiting the suspicious URL.
All of Hall’s recommendations are possible for personal and work email. He also recommended that elections officials put their own personal accounts into the Google Advanced Protection Program, which is designed to entirely eliminate phishing attacks—even from nation-states.
“This isn’t available for more than personal Google/GMail accounts right now, but personal accounts are often used to get access to institutional accounts, so this is a great place for election officials to start in terms of state-of-the-art protections,” Hall explained.
For the Democracy Fund/Reed College survey, administrators are taking a multi-pronged approach to reassure LEOs that the emails they will receive next week are legit.
In addition to the survey email, which will come directly from Qualtrics, the survey administrator, an email will come from Paul Gronke, director of the Early Voting Information Center and professor at Reed College, to let survey respondents know they have been selected to respond and they should keep an eye-out for the survey.
The Democracy Fund/Reed College team has been in direct contact with the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Counties, who agreed to communicate with their members. They have also given a heads up to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the National Association of Secretaries of State and the International Association of Government Officials.
“We’ve reached out to several validators who can let LEOs know that the survey is coming, and more importantly, that the survey is from a trusted source,” explained Natalie Adona, senior research and learning associate for the Elections Program at the Democracy Fund. “We certainly respect that election officials across this country have real, ongoing concerns around cybersecurity–which includes (but isn’t limited to) email phishing attempts. We realize that some LEOs will not have heard of Democracy Fund or Reed College, and might be skeptical about opening-up a link contained in an email from someone/organization that they don’t know.”
(If you have any questions or concerns about the Democracy Fund/Reed College survey, please contact Natalie Adona, senior research and learning association at the Democracy Fund 202.420.7931 (nadona@democracyfund.org) or Paul Gronke at Reed College 503.517.7393 (gronkep@reed.edu))
Mobile Voting
II. Mobile Voting
Five ways to make sure mobile voting works for you and your voters
By Paul McGrane, chief deputy clerk and
David Levine, elections director
Ada County, Idaho
Ada County, Idaho (which includes Boise) introduced food truck voting — aka mobile voting — in 2016, and it was an instant hit. Early voting records were set, and voters from across the county expressed their appreciation for the added convenience. Rather than waiting until Election Day, or trekking to city hall to vote early, voters could cast ballots before grocery shopping, after going to the library, or on their lunch breaks. But that success was not pre-ordained. Here are 5 factors to consider when weighing – and implementing — mobile voting.
1) Check the Law
Be familiar with the polling place requirements in your jurisdiction. Is a mobile polling station permitted? If it does, what are the laws governing when and how you can use it? It’s not just election law — if you need to be ADA compliant, you have to make sure your mobile unit meets the requirements.
2) Make sure you have access to Utilities
You need power for lighting, HVAC, and equipment. Where reliable power is not available, you have to carefully weigh the costs of alternative solutions.
If you have the money, purchasing a generator for the mobile voting unit can help ensure that it is up and running the entire time it is available to the public. If you don’t, make sure you have enough cable to reach the power source at each location you’ll be using and that the source has enough capacity. If capacity is limited, a short could occur, preventing the mobile voting unit from operating at its maximum level.
Costs can be kept down by limiting voting operations to daylight hours. Extending mobile voting unit hours into the evening can require enhanced or emergency lighting equipment, which costs money and may entail additional training. This makes places that offer lighting at night – such as shopping center parking lots –good candidates. And for your people’s sake make sure there are restrooms in the vicinity.
3) Assess the Need
More and more jurisdictions are offering early voting. In most jurisdictions, an early voter can cast his or her ballot in person, at a “normal” polling place open for early voting, or by mail. For jurisdictions that offer several ways to vote early and are compact or have many early voting locations, mobile voting may not be a high priority.
But if you offer fewer opportunities to vote early and/or have many voters that live far from early voting polling places, mobile voting can help maximize the number of citizens who successfully cast a ballot.
4) Plan and Rehearse
Carefully plan how mobile voting will be administered. Choose locations that will welcome a mobile voting unit, don’t appear to favor some candidates over others, and offer plenty of parking.
Make sure there are at least two knowledgeable election workers at the mobile station, one of whom is an experienced manager who can ensure that the process goes smoothly.
Staffing efficiency can be enhanced (and costs reduced) by having one of your poll workers double as the driver of the mobile unit. Make sure that the RV (if that’s what you use) is in good operating condition and that the first time the worker drives it is not the first day s/he is staffing it in an election.
5) Get the Word Out
Mobile voting only works if voters know about it so they can use it. As you do with all of your conventional early polling places, put out information in the press and on social media (it’s 2018) about the mobile voting unit, especially where it will be at what times on what days. In the year you first use a mobile unit you can expect extra media and public interest. Take advantage of it!
Information about where and when mobile voting is being offered, and who can do mobile voting, is critical. In Ada County, voters who can take advantage of mobile voting are continuously reminded that any eligible Ada County voter can use the mobile facility because it operates like an ordinary early voting site, and early voting sites may be used by any Ada County voter (unlike Election Day, when voters can only vote in their assigned precincts).
Implemented carefully after solid planning, mobile voting is a potential godsend for election administrators. It increases the convenience of voting, and election officials control access to it, unlike traditional polling places, where access is often controlled by someone who works in the building. It can also serve as an emergency backup – an alternate polling place if a regular location becomes inaccessible on Election Day due to a building mishap or power outage.
Election News This Week
III. Election News This Week
Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler (R) has announced that he will resign from office next week. His decision comes after an employee filed a sexual harassment suit against Schedler in February. Shedler, who has been on the job since 2010 has previously announced that he would not seek re-election. Kyle Ardoin, Schedler’s first assistant, will replace him until an election can be held for a new secretary of state—most likely to coincide with the November 6 election.
On Tuesday night, the Knox County, Tennessee elections website crashed due a “deliberate” and widespread” cyberattack, officials told The Knoxville News Sentinel. The site went down around 8pm and no vote tallies were affected, just the public’s ability to seek election results on the county’s site. The website appeared to come back online just before 9 p.m., and it ran smoothly — for the most part — for the rest of the night. The county had 11 security experts working to resolve the problem. According to Richard Moran, the IT director for the county, the site crashed from a massive amount of traffic that appeared to be coming from “many, many servers all over the country and all over the world.”
Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman (R) has asked Gov. Jay Inslee (D) for emergency spending authority in order to fund prepaid postage for the 2018 election cycle. In her request, Wyman argued that what’s good for one county — King, which is considering paying return postage — should be good for all counties. “The reality is, while this decision may appear to only affect King County voters, it has a statewide impact on the remaining counties,” Wyman said according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “We have to treat every voter in the state fairly and equally, and do everything we can to avoid confusing voters.”
In New York, about 930 voters responded to a field survey by Senate Democrats trying to find out what would make them more likely to vote. According to the survey, 62 percent said they’d be more inclined to do so if an election was held on a weekend. And 79 percent said they would be more likely to vote if polling places were open for multiple days prior to Election Day.
And finally, in Vigo County, Indiana, the school corporation has finally found a way to get students to the polls. After the corporation decided not to bus the students, the superintendent committed to getting the students there and this week two central office administrators took students in their personal cars to the Vigo County Annex, where early voting was occurring, during lunch period so the students wouldn’t miss school. At Terre Haute North, on primary day, a school protection officer will walk the students to a nearby vote center during lunch. Following the 2018 primary, the school superintendent will meet with area high school students and the county clerk to try and come up with a permanent plan. “I think it’s important to have this meeting, to craft something for the future that we have in place so we can think about not taking school time to vote, but have kids more involved,” Danny Tanoos told Indiana public radio.
Legislative Updates
IV. Legislative Updates
Colorado: The Voter Registration Individuals Criminal Justice Act passed the House Committee on State, Veterans and Military Affairs committee last week by a 4-3 vote. Under the bill, parolees would be pre-registered and automatically be able to vote upon completion of their sentences.
Delaware: House Majority Whip John Viola has introduced HB 400 which would allow residents of Delaware to register and vote on the same day.
Hawaii: A bill creating a pilot vote-by-mail program on the island of Kauai for the 2020 election cycle passed out of a state Legislature conference committee.
Kansas: Rep. Russ Jennings (R-Lakin) has introduced a bill that would prohibit the use any state money for defense or penalties involved in a finding of contempt of court by state elected officials. “You pay your own bills if you get yourself in that kind of trouble,” Jennings told the Kansas City Star. The bill was approved 103-16. The provision was removed from the budget during negotiations with the Senate.
Kentucky: Gov. Matt Bevin (R) has vetoed House Bill 274 that would have altered the time to request an absentee ballot. Bevin’s veto message said it cuts in half the time to request an absentee ballot and he doesn’t support any additional burden on the right to vote.
Massachusetts: The Northampton city council is debating a resolution that, if approved, would have the council petition the state Legislature to officially lower the voting age in Northampton to 16.
New Hampshire: House Bill 1264 has been approved by the Senate. The bill attempts to clear up state residency clauses in order to register to vote.
Washington: Sens. Joe Fain (R-Auburn) and Mark Mullet (D-Issaquah) plan to introduce legislation ahead of the 2019 session that would make the state pay for return postage on all ballots. A similar bill was introduced in the 2017-2018 session and died in the Senate Ways and Means committee. That bill had an estimated price tag of almost $3 million.
Legal Updates
V. Legal Updates
Arkansas: Pulaski County Circuit Judge Alice Gray ruled that when the General Assembly created the state’s voter ID requirement, it inserted an unsupportable contradiction into the state constitution. The 57-page order bars further enforcement of the ID requirement at least until a full trial can be held to determine the constitutionality of the law. The state appealed the ruling and late this week the Arkansas Supreme Court, in a 6-1 ruling, said that may enforce the voter ID law for the upcoming May 22 primary.
Florida: The American Civil Rights Union is appealing the ruling of U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom that found Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes was following the state’s requirements to remove voters from the rolls. The group had argued in court that Snipes’ office was not moving quickly enough to remove those who had moved, died or otherwise become ineligible to vote. The ruling has been appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
Indiana: At a federal court hearing this week, voter advocacy groups argued that the state’s participation in Crosscheck will illegally remove Hoosiers from the voter rolls. According to WBAA, attorneys for the state argue the groups’ lawsuit is premature and speculative because the state hasn’t yet been able to use Crosscheck this year.
Michigan: U.S. District Judge George Caram Steeh has granted a motion by Macomb County attorneys to toss a complaint filed by ex-clerk Karen Spranger. Steeh said Spranger “fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted as required by federal law.”
North Carolina: Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour said that four North Carolina voters may pursue their libel lawsuit against allies of former Gov. Pat McCrory. The voters sued after they were falsely accused of felony voting crimes, including casting ballots in multiple states.
North Dakota: U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland has denied the state’s request to delay part of an earlier ruling invalidating the state’s voter ID law pending an appeal. Hovland accused the state of raising “a litany of embellished concerns” and haven’t shown “any evidence of voter fraud in the past or present.”
Texas: By a 2-1 vote a three-judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s ruling that tossed out the state’s revisions to Senate Bill 5, the state’s voter ID law. Writing for the majority, Judge Edith Jones said that the Legislature “succeeded in its goal” of addressing flaws to the state’s voter ID law and that the lower court active prematurely when it “abused its discretion” in ruling to invalidate SB 5.
Wisconsin: James K. Denig, 56, and Kay E. Denig, 60, both Waterford, are each charged with one count of election fraud for registering in more than one place and one count of election fraud for voting more than one time, all felonies.
Tech Thursday
VI. Tech Thursday
Iowa: The secretary of state’s office has launched a new website, VoterReadyIowa.org that lists critical information for voters such as types of acceptable IDs, polling place location and hours and links to register to vote. “VoterReadyIowa.org is a one-stop shop for voters,” Secretary of State Paul Pate said. “Everything you need to know to be voter ready will be on this website. I want every eligible Iowan to register to vote and participate in our elections. The June 5 primary is just five weeks away and absentee voting begins next Monday. It’s beneficial for voters to start preparing for the elections now, and VoterReadyIowa.org is a great website to help them.”
New Mexico: The secretary of state’s office has launched a new online voter information portal. At NMVote.org, voters may request an absentee ballot online for the first time in the state’s history as well as register to vote or update their voter information, find their polling place, find election dates and look up third-party voter registration agents. “NMVote.org will make absentee voting more convenient than ever before by allowing voters to request a ballot online,” said Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver. “I’ll keep looking for ways to improve the voting process in New Mexico and to give registered voters easier access to the ballot and the election information they need.”
Pennsylvania: New Congressional districts have divided Cranberry Township into three different districts with some neighborhoods being split right down the middle of the street. Although voters will still visit their same polling places, they will be presented with different ballots depending on their address. To help voters know which district they are now voting in, the township has created a new online tool.
Opinions This Week
VII. Opinoins This Week
National Opinions: Ex-felon voting rights | Crosscheck
Alaska: Vote-by-mail
Arkansas: Sebastian County
California: Sacramento County | Vote centers, II | San Mateo County | Ranked choice voting
Florida: Ex-felon voting rights, II, III
Illinois: Cybersecurity | Election judges
Kansas: Kris Kobach
Louisiana: Secretary of state, II
Mississippi: Voting equipment
New Jersey: Automatic voter registration
New Mexico: Secretary of state’s office
New York: FOIL ruling | Ex-felon voting rights, II, III | Election reform
North Carolina: Voter fraud
Pennsylvania: Voting machines, II | Election security
Texas: Voter ID, II | Number of elections
Washington: Prepaid postage
West Virginia: Early voting
Wyoming: Blockchain
Upcoming Events
VIII. Upcoming Events
Election Center Professional Program Special Session — During May’s special session, the following core curriculum in election administration and voter registration will be offered: Enfranchisement, Enhancement & Enforcement – Modern Federal Election Law and Regulation: 1965-Present; Constitutions, Courts and Cases to 1965 – Early America to 1965 with focus on State and U.S. Constitutions; History I: Ancients to 17891; and History II: 1781 to Modern Era. When: May 7-12. Where: Auburn, Alabama.
2018 Election Mail Forum— The National Postal Forum will hold a one-day Election Mail Forum. At the forum, participants will hear from speakers, attend panel discussions on the Intelligent Mail barcode and discover how the USPS can be an election mail partner and how this can help better serve voters. Where: San Antonio, Texas. When: May 8.
New Voter Forum— Hosted by the National Association of Secretaries of State, this forum will focus on voter outreach, education and best practices geared towards young people, minorities, active duty military and the disabled communities. Secretaries of State/Lieutenant Governors, senior state staff and private sector representatives will convene to hold bipartisan discussions on these important topics. Where: Washington, DC. When: May 21.
Cybersecurity Online Training Series — The Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL) is partnering with the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) to deliver a new cybersecurity training series designed for election officials this July. The series will include 3 courses that will empower your election office to manage cyber threats and communicate with the public about cybersecurity. After completing the series, you’ll have more confidence to safeguard against and respond to cyber threats in your election office. When: July 10, July 24 and July 31. Where: Online.
NASS 2018 Summer Conference — Mark your calendars now for the National Association of Secretaries of State 2018 summer conference in the City of Brotherly Love. Check back soon for more information about the agenda. When: July 13-16. Where: Philadelphia.
2018 NASED Summer Meeting — Mark your calendars now for the National Association of State Election Directors’ 2018 summer meeting in the City of Brotherly Love. Check back soon for more information about the agenda. When: July 13-16. Where: Philadelphia.
NACo Annual Conference and Exposition — Mark your calendars now for the National Association of Counties Annual Conference and Exposition in Music City. Check back soon for more information about the agenda. When: July 13-16. Where: Nashville, Tennessee.
2018 iGo Annual Conference — Mark your calendars now for the International Association of Government Officials 2018 Annual Conference in The Biggest Little City in the World! Check back soon for more information about the agenda. When: July 16-21. Where: Reno, Nevada.
Election Sciences Reform and Administration (ESRA) — The conference brings together political scientists and other experts in election administration to develop rigorous empirical approaches to the study of how law and administrative procedures affect the quality of elections in the United States. Participants will identify major questions in the field, share new insights, foster collaboration between election administrators and election scientists, and connect senior and junior scholars. When: July 26 and 27. Where: University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Job Postings This Week
IX. Job Postings This Week
electionlineWeekly publishes election administration job postings each week as a free service to our readers. To have your job listed in the newsletter, please send a copy of the job description, including a web link to mmoretti@electionline.org. Job postings must be received by 5pm on Wednesday in order to appear in the Thursday newsletter. Listings will run for three weeks or till the deadline listed in the posting.
Clerk-Recorder Services Technician, Contra Costa County, California— the Clerk-Recorder Services Technician is a technical position assigned to one of the specialized units of the Clerk-Recorder Division: Recording, Clerk Services, Imaging/Indexing and Archive/Warehouse Services. This position performs technical and complex data entry and clerical that may include: fictitious business name, general clerk filings, notary, passport, marriage license application processing and marriage ceremonies, real property and other general document recordings, document indexing and/or general index verification, customer service desk and phone support, and perform database management in one or more database systems; and perform related work as required. Salary: $44,018-$53,505. Deadline: May 11. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Customer Support Consultant, Hart InterCivic— Hart InterCivic is looking to add a Customer Support Consultant to our team. A Hart Customer Support Consultant is a great listener and communicator who responds to requests for assistance from Hart InterCivic customers for all Hart InterCivic products. The primary responsibilities for this position are to answer, resolve and route customer queries (usually by phone or email), work with customers in a professional manner and read and interpret documents such as user guides and training manuals and translate the information to the customer in a manner which they can understand. We are looking for individuals who have technical skills, have been in support roles in the past and, preferably, have elections experience. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections Management Analyst, New Mexico Secretary of State — this position will serve as a liaison to the county clerks for election related issues and support. This position performs complex research and analysis regarding best practices in regards to the administration and implementation of the election code, develops guidelines, documentation and training material. Position will led efforts related to election specific projects and maintain operational guides. This position must demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills and will be required to communicate project status, interface with public officials and conduct trainings. Salary: $31,782-$55,307. Deadline: May 21. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections and Voter Services Manager, Montana Secretary of State’s Office — this position serves as the Manager of the Elections and Voter Services Division and reports to the Elections and Voter Services Director for the Office of the Secretary of State. This position is responsible for ensuring the integrity of elections, aligning resources with the strategic direction of the Elections and Voter Services Division, interpreting state election laws and ensuring implementation uniformly throughout the state, and interpreting, analyzing, drawing conclusions, identifying trends, and presenting voting data. This position supervises three positions within the Division and is responsible for all aspects of performance management. Salary: $75,000. Deadline: Open until filled: Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Embedded System Software Engineer, Clear Ballot — Clear Ballot is looking for a talented Software Engineer who wants to bring their technical skills to bear on a hugely consequential problem. The successful candidate will build and enhance full software stack of highly available applications using primarily Python that interface with front-end web applications implemented in JavaScript and HTML5. The application software deploys on OEM based hardware, with optical scanner, battery backup, and full touchscreen UI, running a custom configured version of Linux OS. The ideal candidate should have strong technical skills, solid understanding of developing for embedded systems, a good working knowledge of the Linux architecture, and software integration with OEM hardware devices. You will be working with a small team of highly skilled individuals to build and enhance a platform that is changing the elections industry. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Field Sales Director, Hart InterCivic — the Field Sales Director works primarily on the road and from a home office when he/she is not on business travel. The Field Sales Director is responsible for creating news sales with prospects and existing clients in a defined region. Today, this role is a single contributor and does not directly manage people. This position will report to the VP of Sales. Application: For the complete job listing an to apply, click here.
Field Support Engineer (Ohio), Clear Ballot — Oversee and perform installation, configuration and maintenance of Ubuntu servers and Windows desktop and laptop machines, local area network, related equipment and devices; become expert at installation and configuration of Clear Ballot Group software; respond to end user reported incidents, create and track incidents in a ticketing system; daily interaction with both local and remote users for needs gathering and problem analysis; provides technical leadership on a variety of highly specialized project-related activities requiring expertise in specific scientific/technical areas for digital voting systems. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Full Stack Principal Software Engineer, Clear Ballot— Clear Ballot is looking for an accomplished Principal Software Engineer who wants to bring their technical and leadership skills to bear on a hugely consequential problem: Bringing transparency to democratic elections. The successful candidate will have the ability to look at the bigger picture and deal with complex and competing requirements to design effective solutions. Extensive knowledge of and experience with large data structures and algorithms will be key. The backend implemented in Python and uses a SQL data base. The front end is implemented in JavaScript, Node.js and HTML5. The ideal candidate should have strong technical and leadership skills and a good working knowledge of the latest concepts in security, performance, and resilience. You will be working with a small team of highly skilled individuals to build and enhance a platform that is changing the elections industry. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Full Stack Software Developer, Clear Ballot— Clear Ballot is looking for a talented Software Engineer who wants to bring their technical skills to bear on a hugely consequential problem. The successful candidate will build and enhance enterprise-level, highly available applications using primarily Python and MySQL that interface with frontend web applications implemented in JavaScript, Node.js and HTML5. The ideal candidate should have strong technical skills and a good working knowledge of the latest concepts in performance, security and resilience. One of the hallmarks of our system is its emphasis on new visualization techniques made possible by sophisticated data structures that enable high-performance in a multi-user environment. You will be working with a small team of highly skilled individuals to build and enhance a platform that is changing the elections industry. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Full-Stack Software Engineer, Clear Ballot — Clear Ballot is looking for a talented Software Engineer who wants to bring their technical skills to bear on a hugely consequential problem – to modernize America’s voting systems and to bring transparency to democratic elections. The successful candidate will build and enhance enterprise-level, highly available applications using primarily Python and MySQL that interface with frontend web applications implemented in JavaScript, Node.js and HTML5. The ideal candidate should have strong technical skills and a good working knowledge of the latest concepts in performance, security and resilience. One of the hallmarks of our system is its emphasis on new visualization techniques made possible by sophisticated data structures that enable high-performance in a multi-user environment. You will be working with a small team of highly skilled individuals to build and enhance a platform that is changing the elections industry. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Operations Technician, Clear Ballot — the Operations Technician’s primary duty is preparing, installing software, staging, and shipping equipment to customers. Additionally, the position manages an internal IT network and maintains inventory of company equipment. The successful candidate has all or some combination of experience with hands on hardware and software integration, IT, project management, procurement, logistics, and inventory management. This position reports to the Director of Field Operations. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Product Manager, Clear Ballot — the Product Manager position is a member of the Clear Ballot Product team. At Clear Ballot, the Product team is the hub around which all other functions orbit. The team manages the company’s product planning and feedback cycle, interacting and collaborating regularly with Customer Success, Engineering, Business Development, Compliance/Certification, Field Operations, and Executive Management. Clear Ballot Product Managers work on a multi-disciplinary product team which is assigned one of more of Clear Ballot products. As the customer representative on the product team, the Product Manager creates, prioritizes and represents product requirements to the product team. The Product Manager also the product team’s representative to stakeholders inside and outside of the organization. The Product Manager is often working with prospects and clients to gain insight, vet ideas, and present solutions. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Research Associate, Center for Election Innovation & Research — the Research Associate will conduct original research and provide written quantitative and qualitative analyses. The Research Associate will work full-time in the Washington, DC Metro Area, usually in CEIR’s office, although sometimes working from home may be possible. Job Duties include: Conduct original research covering a variety of election-related issues pertinent to CEIR’s mission; Draft papers, blog posts, and other writings, to be published by CEIR and/or other outlets; Attend convenings, hearings, and other meetings; and Interact with election officials and other election experts. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Senior Manager, Technical Product Support (Denver, CO) – Dominion Voting Systems — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking a tech-savvy, passionate Senior Manager, Technical Product Support to join our team in Denver, CO! This position is responsible for strategically leading and developing a multi-state team of election technology software and hardware Product Specialists through a number of critical projects throughout the Western United States. Salary: Negotiable base + bonus & benefits. Deadline: Open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Senior Technical Trainer, Clear Ballot — training courses and learning materials support users whose skills range the technical spectrum and include laypersons (pollworkers), election officials, and system administrators. Our small and growing documentation and training team has an immediate need for a new member with intermediate-to-senior experience in: Instructional design; Development of learning curricula; Production of training materials; Hands-on, customer facing training. Generally, the training department, technical staff, and operations staff provide training at the customer’s site. We need an instructional designer and trainer who can analyze the learners and materials, and establish an appropriately targeted learning program. The opportunity exists to develop computer based training as an enhancement to our learning curriculum. Application: Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
State Election Technology Associate, Clear Ballot— our growing team has an immediate need for a new member to manage testing, approval and certification campaigns of election technology in new states. This position works directly with State Government to test and approve voting systems. Certification and approval is key to success in the election systems domain. Diplomacy and empathy alongside professional and tactful communications are key contributors to smooth state certification campaigns of new election technology. All voting system components (ballot layout, in-person voting, absentee voting, results reporting and audit) and their associated documentation are certified by state agencies; evaluation is performed by demanding government laboratories. Requirements vary across the States; and these requirements are found in statute, Rule, by written and oral tradition, and sometimes are ambiguous and even unwritten. Attention to detail is paramount to success. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Systems Engineer, Clear Ballot — We are looking for a talented Systems Engineer who has both a technical and services/support background which enables them to quickly assess customer needs and offer value to Clear Ballot’s customers. The Systems Engineer will gain a deep understanding of how Clear Ballot’s products operate and their optimal configuration to build a streamlined installation process of the Clear Vote election system. The ideal candidate for this position can prioritize mission critical tasks and coordinate the implementation and expansion of our systems. They will be able to work directly with customers, display innovation, think conceptually and act tactically to build consensus around system installation and enhancement and meet deadlines. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
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