In Focus This Week
I. In Focus This Week
Exit Interview: Joshua Franklin
Joshua M Franklin has worked with election technology at the state and federal government for over a decade.
He worked at the Kennesaw State University Center for Election Systems during college, and shortly after graduating. Joshua was then recruited to work at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission gathering hands-on experience with a variety of voting technologies.
For three and a half years he managed federal certification efforts alongside election officials, labs, and manufacturers across the country.
Post-EAC, Joshua worked as an IT Security Engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) focusing on cellular and electronic voting security. At NIST, Joshua co-chaired the Election Cybersecurity Working Group, and was the principal author for the security portions of the next generation of federal voting system standards.
Joshua recently became a Senior Cybersecurity Engineer at the Center for Internet Security (CIS) where he will be continuing his work in elections.
You’ve worked in the public sector for quite a while now, how come you are making the leap into the “private” sector now?
Other than a few glorious years gracing the lifeguard chairs of the Atlanta suburbs with my alabaster tan, I’ve essentially always been a state or federal employee.
I’ve accrued 10 years of federal service, and 10 seems like a nice round number. It was time to make a change. I am legitimately curious how the other half lives. Actually, looking at the statistics on this, maybe how the other ~98 percent of the US population lives. There’s a reasonable argument to be made that I’m just dipping my toe into the water by moving to an NGO.
What’s the biggest change you have seen in election security since you started?
A couple things I guess: software independence, meaningful election audits, and the Babadook that was 2016. When I moseyed on into the Kennesaw State University Center for Election System’s (CES’s) office in 2004, the country was engaged in a massive debate over “paper or plastic.” There were HBO documentaries, books, and a deluge of news articles on the merits of fully electronic machines versus paper-based ones. I spent hours sorting through hundreds of public comments on this subject for the 2005 Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) at CES. And now, although the issue isn’t entirely settled, many states have simply transitioned to paper-based systems or are planning to. Kim Brace has a wonderful set of maps showing the change in voting equipment since 2000 that I use to illustrate this concept to folks learning the field of elections.
Audits are another interesting change in election security since 2004. Audits are critical for detecting problems in elections – both accidental and malicious. Yet there’s any number of ways to perform an election audit, and various states and jurisdictions will look to audit different aspects of the election process in unique ways. Yet sometimes two states will refer to dissimilar audits with the same term! Risk-limiting audits seem to be a unifying, cost-effective way to audit the result of the election. And I know election officials like getting bang for their buck! It’s been awesome, in the truest sense of the word, to see election officials and the security community work together on something in a proactive manner. Shout out to all the jurisdictions, election integrity groups, and academics going through the pain of bringing theory to reality. You’re the best of us.
Everything changed in 2016. Although security has always been an important facet of U.S. elections, 2016 is the year where things went from “what if” to “what now”? I believe 2016 will be a turning point in election security; hopefully only for the better. (And I can’t wait to read the book that we’re all in!) But as a community, we need to keep on it, and it can’t just be lip service. That means learning cybersecurity best practices, teaching others, and putting what we learn into practice. Consistently. Finally, we need to keep fighting for resources specifically earmarked for election cybersecurity and then using them effectively.
We hear a lot about what’s happening in the public sector on cybersecurity–and how election officials can take simple steps to reduce their risk–but what else is happening in the sector that folks might not know about but should?
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) is a wonderful example of this. I think that framework does a wonderful job of helping folks to hone onto the cybersecurity issues that affect them, without having to be a cybersecurity expert. A new version of the CSF was recently released, and I think folks should keep an eye on it and consider how it might be applicable to elections.
While it’s not entirely public sector, academia is certainly adjacent, and Dr. Alex Halderman’s Securing Digital Democracy course offered through Coursera is a wonderful hidden gem that everyone might not know about. It’s a great FREE way of refreshing yourself on some cybersecurity basics focused on elections, and can act as a foundation for learning more advanced cybersecurity concepts.
In the same vein, some election officials might know the work that the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) has been doing with the Center for Technology & Civic Life (CTCL), but possibly not everyone does! These organizations have been working to create Cybersecurity 101 courses specifically geared towards election officials. No fluff, just what you need. This includes a series of cybersecurity guides focused on cyber-hygiene issues like password usage and auditing. I’d be remiss to not mention the astounding work that the Center for Internet Security (CIS) is doing in the election security space. Check out their handbook if you’ve missed it!
You are clearly interested in mobile technology–we hear you have quite a collection of old phones!–but should we be focusing on mobile devices as a potential area of vulnerability?
Sadly, I’ve donated my phone collection to NIST.
Sigh.
In my opinion, mobile devices are already used throughout elections. Many states have used tablets for their electronic pollbooks since the mid-aughts. That’s well before the iPad. Yet any sufficiently complex computing platform is going to have unknown software, firmware, and hardware vulnerabilities that can be exploited. Mobile devices tend to complicate this issue by having an always-on internet connection (i.e., cellular) and they are specifically engineered to easily share information with other devices. From a cybersecurity perspective, this ain’t great. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use them at all. I think there’s a number of situations where properly configured mobile devices will be used, or are already being used in the field of elections.
Should voters be concerned that their personal information is at risk from election hacking, and not just election outcomes?
Most certainly. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) were breached between 2015 – 2016 and the Republican data firm Deep Root Analytics was breached in 2017. Illinois voters experienced a massive voter data breach in 2017. At the DEF CON Voting Village last year, a memory card was found containing voter registration information from a real jurisdiction. All of this occured in just the past few years. This is a real issue that I think we should take a step back from to contemplate how the entire elections ecosystem handles the data voters entrust to us. In many states voters have no say on whether or not their voter information is provided to candidates and/or parties. We need to be worthy stewards of the data voters are compelled to provide to us.
What one step should all election officials take to improve their security posture?
Get better at authentication. It doesn’t matter if it’s an election management system, an SSH account on a .gov website hosting election results, or a personal email account. Folks should be using strong, unique passwords for all the computers and devices in their lives. Two factor authentication should be employed for any critical system, and honestly, any system that makes it easy to use a second factor should prolly have a second factor. Look to a password manager to remove the burden of memorization (but not for critical election passwords!!). I also have to mention this XKCD cartoon on password strength or the cybersecurity community would have my head.
What role if any should blockchain play in elections?
I’ll ask the third-rail question…do you think Internet voting will ever be a viable option?
Of course, it’s just not “someday” yet. The number of years between the first manned aircraft and the first manned spaceflight was less than a human lifetime. According to Star Trek we’re supposed to be able to travel at light speed by 2063! I have the utmost confidence in the human race’s ability to solve difficult problems through technology. But as of right now, it’s still exceedingly difficult for any organization to keep a system secure while connected to the internet. It doesn’t matter if it’s a governmental world power or a large technology company. But that doesn’t mean that we need to stop investigating and researching the topic altogether. I’m going to be mad at everyone if I can’t vote from some device or implant while simultaneously working the polls at 80 years old. As an aside, as an elderly man working the polls, I plan to cause a lot of hilarity for voters.
If you could create the perfect election system, what would it look like?
I don’t think it’d look like anything. I would just think about my preference, and it would be securely recorded and reported. But brain-computer interfaces still have a long way to go, and I’m not planning on being a beta tester for that tech… Although I am worried that this would lead to the episode of The Orville (Majority Rule) where everyone voted on everything all the time. It was honestly more dystopian than the Black Mirror episode on voting (Nosedive). This is required watching for election geeks by the way.
When you fell off the barstool at Bobby Vans, were you more embarrassed than hurt?
Fake news.
Electionline Help
II. Electionline Help
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Federal-State Updates
III. Federal-State Updates
On Friday the 13th, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the indictment of 12 Russian nationals working on behalf of the Main Intelligence Directorate in a series of hacks targeted at state and local election officials, voter registration databases as well as voting-machine software companies. According to FCW, one charging document says one such attempt yielded voter information on approximately 500,000 Americans, including names, addresses, partial social security numbers, dates of birth and driver’s license numbers. Another attempt resulted in the successful penetration of computers owned by an unnamed U.S. vendor that supplies software used to verify voter registration information the 2016 elections.
Also on Friday the 13th, the U.S. House Administration Committee released a report on 18 states with the “most vulnerable” election systems in the country. According to StateScoop, the states included in the report were faulted for lacking several of the things voting-security advocates frequently call for, including paper records of ballots and post-election audits.
Jeff Tricoli, the senior FBI official overseeing a government task force looking into Russian attempts to meddle in the U.S. elections has left for a job in the private sector.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen addressed a joint luncheon of the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors on July 14 in Philadelphia. During her remarks, Nielsen said that there are no signs that the Russians are targeting this year’s midterm election on the same “scale or scope” that they did in 2016. That being said, she did say U.S. intelligence officials are seeing “persistent Russian efforts using social media, sympathetic spokespeople and other fronts to sow discord and divisiveness amongst the American people, though not necessarily focused on specific politicians or political campaigns.”
In non-cybersecurity news, advocates and tribal leaders told an informal meeting senators from the Indian Affairs and Rules committees that tribal voters face a range of challenges from language barriers to restrictions with vote-by-mail and lack of access to voting locations.
This week, Maine’s Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap was notified by the federal government that he will be receiving the documents from the president’s now defunct voter fraud commission. Dunlap sued the commission that he was a part of saying that he was not provided while the commission was in existence.
Election News This Week
IV. Election News This Week
The Campaign Legal Center and Southern Poverty Law Center have joined forces on a campaign they have dubbed the Alabama Voting Rights Project which is designed to help former felons regain their voting rights. The campaign comes a year after state law clarified the list of felonies under which Alabamans were able to regain their voting rights. “The Alabama Voting Rights Project is going to organize door to door, community by community in every region of Alabama to reach tens of thousands of Alabamians affected by recent changes in the law,” Blair Bowie, Alabama voting rights campaign manager and Skadden Fellow at the CLC told the Gadsden Times.
In other felons voting rights news, the Alaska Division of Elections and the League of Women voters are working together to help inmates register to vote and apply for an absentee ballot. Representatives from each recently visited the Lemon Creek Correctional Center where they spoke with several inmates and helped one apply for an absentee ballot. “I think even if we touch one person, it’s worth that,” Lauri Wilson, elections supervisor for Southeast Alaska told the Juneau Empire.
Fruits, vegetables, flowers, honey, maybe some fancy soaps. Those are the things you expect to find at your local farmer’s market. What you don’t expect to find is a kerfuffle over voter registration. But that’s what happened at a market in Las Cruces, New Mexico when market organizers asked third-party voter registration organizations, authorized by local elections officials, were trying to register voters. It turns out that the city manager had authorized the voter registration drive, but he forgot to include the department that oversees the market in the email.
In response to a letter from the Mississippi NAACP, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Mississippi Center for Justice, the Mississippi secretary of state’s office is updated its voter registration deadline for runoff elections. While in the past, the voter registration cutoff had been 30 days before the initial election, the new rules will include a second cutoff date for 30 days before the runoff election as well. “A qualified voter who registers to vote 30 days before a runoff election for a federal office will be permitted to cast a ballot in that runoff election,” Mississippi Assistant Attorney General Harold Pizzetta wrote on behalf of Hosemann.
In this day and age, we can all use some good news and we’ve got some for you from Athens County, Ohio. As some of you may recall, the county board of elections has a cat named Pumpkin who lives at the board. Recently Pumpkin needed dental surgery and while that’s something that typically the staff would step up and pay for out of their own pockets, an anonymous donor covered the costs of Pumpkin’s care. The donor had money left over from an inheritance her sister left her to care for her own cat. Now that that cat is gone too, the donor wanted to keep spending it on a cat and Pumpkin seemed like a logical choice. The inheritance also paid for boarding during the May primary — Pumpkin gets a bit nervous on election day (don’t we all Pumpkin) and some other medical needs. “We appreciate it so much,” Elections Director Debbie Quivey told The Athens Messenger.
Personnel News: Cynthia Cepress has retired after 16 years as the Wood County, Wisconsin clerk. Deputy Clerk Trent Miner has been tapped to fill Cepress’ role. Alex Frederick (D) is running for South Dakota secretary of state. Wilson County, Tennessee Election Commissioner Ann Calabria has been removed from the commission by the Tennessee Election Commission. Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos was officially named president of the National Association of Secretaries of State. Joseph Sobecki has resigned as the executive director of the DuPage County, Illinois election commission.
Legislative Updates
V. Legislative Updates
Federal Legislation: The Secure Elections Act has two new bipartisan cosponsors. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) and Bill Nelson (D-Florida), leaders of the Senate Armed Services cyber subcommittee signed onto the bill this week.
California: A new law in place will require journalists, researchers and political campaigns that receive voter data from the state to report any breaches to that data.
Also this week, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation into law that will require counties to provide postage for return vote-by-mail ballots beginning in 2019.
Illinois: Gov. Bruce Rauner has vetoed a bill that would have removed Illinois from the Interstate Crosscheck System.
Massachusetts: By a unanimous 38-0 vote, the Senate have approved H 4671 which if signed by the governor would implement automatic voter registration in Massachusetts. Voters who have interactions with the Registry of Motor Vehicles or MassHealth would be automatically registered unless they opt out.
Also in Massachusetts, the Northampton City Council has unanimously approved a resolution that would lower to the voting age to 16 in local elections. A second and final vote will be held later this month. Following the second vote, the city will need to draft a home-rule petition to the Legislature.
New Hampshire: Following the state Supreme Court ruling, advising that HB 1264 is indeed constitutional, Gov. Chris Sununu has signed the bill into law.
Legal Updates
VI. Legal Updates
Florida: U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker heard arguments this week over attempts block on-campus early voting sites in Gainesville and Tallahassee. Walker did not indicate how or when he would rule.
Georgia: An Amicus Curiae brief was filed on behalf of Common Cause, the National Election Defense Coalition and Project Democracy in Curling v. Kemp, the ongoing case challenging the state’s use of voting machines with no voter-verified, auditable paper trail.
Indiana: Judge Sarah Evans Barker of the U.S. District Court in the Southern District in Indiana has ordered Marion County to establish a minimum of five satellite voting locations in time for the 2018 general election. The consent decree also calls for a minimum of two satellite offices for future primary elections.
Minnesota: Judge Jennifer Frisch, a Ramsey County judge, has given Secretary of State Steve Simon 10 days to provide voter registration information to the Minnesota Voters Alliance. According to the Star-Tribune, in January 2017, the MVA formally asked Simon for access to an electronic copy of data in the statewide voter registration system, including voter identification number, name, address, phone number, year of birth, voting history, type of ballot (absentee or in person), voter status (active, inactive, deleted, challenger), reason for challenge and all other information. Simon declined saying the group was only entitled to name, address, year of birth, history, district and phone number. Simon’s office has sought a stay while it is appealing the ruling.
New Hampshire: In a 3-2 ruling, the New Hampshire Supreme Court found that House Bill 1264 “serves the compelling interest of insuring that those allowed to vote in this state share a community interest with the population generally.” According the Courthouse News, the bill removes the phrase “for the indefinite future” from New Hampshire’s voter residency statute. The change would mean that anyone registering to vote would be declaring his or her residency in the state. Currently, a person only needs to claim New Hampshire as their domicile in order to vote.
Also in New Hampshire, attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union argued in District Court that the state law allowing ballots to be discarded because a signature on a ballot does not match that on the affidavit is unconstitutional.
Utah: The Navajo Nation’s Human Rights Commission has filed an election complaint against San Juan County over incidents they allege happened during the primary. The complaint includes issues with electioneering and voter intimidation by poll workers, insufficient staffing, lack of ballots, failure of lights and air conditioning and general lack of decorum among other things. According to Fox 13, county officials have accused the Navajo Nation of “harassment.”
Tech Thursday
VII. Tech Thursday
Tech Company News: Dominion Voting System has been acquired by its management team and Staple Street Capital. Dominion Voting CEO and President John Poulos said, “Our senior management team is extremely pleased to partner with Staple Street Capital, which has a proven track record of successfully investing in growing mid-size businesses. Given the opportunities on our horizon, this is the ideal time for us to add financial resources and an experienced strategic partner to help us meet market demand, better serve customers and invest in evolving security initiatives.”
Tech Company News: CyberScoop has obtained an April letter from ES&S to Sen. Ron Wyden (R-Oregon) which said the company implemented remote-access software on voting systems over a six-year period. The vendor said it never set up a remote connection on voting devices like tabulators or ballot-marking devices. ES&S stopped installing the remote-access software to comply with a 2007 security-testing regime administered by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), the letter said.
California: The California Secretary of State’s office has opened a cybersecurity office to help protect voter registration data and elections systems. “Today’s indictment is yet another stark reminder that the cyber threats from Russia, and others who seek to harm our democracy, are very real, and they are not going away,” Secretary of State Alex Padilla said.
Maryland: Gov. Larry Hogan, along with state’s Senate President and House Speaker have asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for technical assistance to evaluate the network used by the state board of elections after it was discovered that the company that provides the network has ties to a Russian oligarch.
New York: Under an initiative from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced the state will begin soliciting contracts from companies that will assess the cyber-security risks of the state’s voting systems and help improve internet firewalls for county boards of elections. According to the Times Union, Cuomo said the state’s “Secure Election Center,” managed by the State Board of Elections, will provide uniform cyber-security training to state and county election officials this year.
Pennsylvania: In its first three years of online voter registration in Pennsylvania, the system has been used more than a million times to register new voters or update information. About 22 percent of registrations or changes were made online, according to data provided by the Pennsylvania Department of State. In Philadelphia, just under 15,000 applications have been processed online.
Opinions This Week
VIII. Opinions This Week
National Opinions: SCOTUS pick | Election security, II, III, IV, V, VI | Voter worries | Election integrity | Voter access | Election reform | Voter ID
Alabama: Electronic voting
California: Santa Monica elections
Delaware: New voting equipment
Florida: Campus early voting
Georgia: Ranked-choice voting, II | Election cycle | Runoffs
Illinois: Crosscheck
Indiana: Election reform | Paper ballots
Kansas: Open primaries
Louisiana: Ex-felon voting rights | Secretary of state race
Maryland: Election problems
Massachusetts: Voter registration | Automatic voter registration, II, III
Minnesota: Ranked-choice voting
New Hampshire: Residency requirement, II, III | Election security | Voting rights
New Jersey: Online voter registration
New Mexico: Voting reforms
New York: Non-citizen voting | Ranked-choice voting | Election reform
North Carolina: Access to the polls | Early voting legislation
Ohio: Voter registration
Oklahoma: Runoffs
Oregon: Vote-by-mail
Tennessee: Early voting
Utah: Election security
Washington: Election security
Wisconsin: Vote-by-mail
Upcoming Events
IX. Upcoming Events
Language Access for Voters Summit — The U.S. Election Assistance Commission, Arizona State University Pastor Center for Politics and Public Service, and Democracy Fund Voice are hosting the third annual Language Access for Voters Summit at the Newseum’s Knight Conference Center on Tuesday, July 24, 2018, in Washington, DC. As in years past, the event convenes state and local election officials, advocates and stakeholders from language communities to discuss critical issues of language accessibility. Speakers will share experiences and observations on efforts to serve voters with language needs. Panelists representing Asian American, Latino, American Indian, Alaskan Native, and additional language communities from across the country will discuss demographic changes, the Section 203 designation process, federal requirements under the Voter Rights Act, voluntary and proactive language assistance, as well as strategies for cost-effective services. Participants will also highlight how emerging trends in election administration, such as the spread of vote centers and new election technologies, are impacting language access. The summit aims to share information, as well as generate new understanding and appreciation between various stakeholder communities. When: July 24. Where: Washington, DC.
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.
Election Center 34th Annual National Conference — Conference attendees will be inspired and energized as we head into the final stretch of the mid-term election year. We will share substantive elections issues including crucial critical infrastructure information, new updates from the investing in elections project, elections in review, information on new voting systems, the vendor exhibit area where you can learn about new and innovative voting system support and much more! We will honor and celebrate the winners of the Election Center’s acclaimed Professional Practices Papers’ Program. It is also a platform in which election officials can share their successful practices. Award Winners will be announced at a session on Monday afternoon and you will take home all the best practices submitted on your own DVD. When: Aug. 27-28. Where: New Orleans.
National Election Security Summit — National, state and local election authorities will join officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Election Assistance Commission, Elections Infrastructure — Information Sharing and Analysis Center, security professionals, election experts, and other industry leaders to learn and share tangible best practices. These security discussions will provide attendees useable steps to mitigate threats and vulnerabilities as election authorities gear up for the 2018 mid-term elections. This is an event designed for election officials and is not open to the public and space is limited. When: September 10-11. Where: St. Louis, Missouri.
Job Postings This Week
X. 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.
Account Manager, Delaware, ES&S — an Account Manager serves as the interface between customer service and sales with respect to the full array of ES&S product lines. Operating as the lead point of contact for any and all matters specific to customers within the assigned territory from initial implementation of new voting systems through each election cycle. Ultimately, Account Managers are responsible for building and maintaining long-lasting customer relationships, negotiating and promoting Account Management contracts and agreements to maximize profit, and acting as the overall liaison between the customer and internal team members. Account Managers partner with our customers to ensure their long-term success. The Account Manager role includes managing a portfolio of assigned customers, developing new business from existing clients and actively seeking new opportunities. Account Management responsibilities include developing strong relationships with customers, and connecting with key county/jurisdiction officials. Account Managers will liaise between customers and cross-functional internal teams to ensure the timely and successful delivery of our solutions and to proactively identify customer needs and improve the entire customer experience. In addition, Account Managers collaborate with our Sales team to achieve sales quotas and grow our business. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections Manager, Sonoma County, California — the Elections Manager is responsible for supporting the daily operations and activities of the Registrar of Voters Office, including the development, coordination, and evaluation of division operations and programs. The Elections Manager uses considerable independent judgment and discretion in the supervision of staff, the prioritization and coordination of mandates, goals, objectives, and the delegation of administrative responsibilities in addition to being responsible for: Analyzing, managing, and coordinating projects such as legal and technological changes; Managing ballot production and distribution; Preparing and conducting trainings; Drafting, reviewing, and updating procedural manuals; Assisting in preparation of the division’s budget; and Developing professional relationships with public officials, and community groups and agencies. NOTE: Registrar of Voters Office staff are required to work a considerable amount of mandatory overtime during peak workload election periods. The Election Manager’s presence is required to provide direct and continuous oversight of operations during mandatory overtime periods. Salary: $84,528-$102,748. Deadline: Aug. 5. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections Systems Coordinator, Richland County, South Carolina— The purpose of the class is to prepare specific computer programs and operations for each election held in Richland County which includes preparing the Election Definition, Hardware Preparation, Election Security, Equipment Testing, Tabulation, Election Reporting and certifying elections results. Review and file ballot preparation and distribute iVotronic Voting Machine to each precinct, order and provide election supplies, train elections workers, and provide Voter education programs to citizens and to coordinate all other aspects of elections. 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.
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.
Hardware Engineer (Toronto, ON) – Dominion Voting Systems — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking a an experienced Hardware Engineer to join our team in Toronto, Ontario! This position will work in a fast paced engineering, design, development and technical support environment with many variables and challenges. This position will be accountable for provisioning of electronics and providing software and mechanical engineering support to new product development, manufacturing and field support teams. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Information Technology Specialist, Wake County, North Carolina— The Wake County Board of Elections is seeking an Information Technology Specialist to manage the certification and testing of election ballots and voting equipment. In this position you will develop, manage, and implement IT solutions for conducting elections while ensuring the security and integrity of certified election equipment including tabulators, voter assistance terminals, laptops, and elections software. You will be responsible for programming election contests, candidates, and generating official ballot designs to be used in elections. You will also tabulate, verify, and report election results using certified election software and systems. You will manage the programming, testing, and deployment of voting equipment prior to each election. You will train and manage staff and technicians to assist you in your mission. You will work as part of a team to develop a robust framework to support the various IT needs of the Board of Elections office and at official voting sites. Finally, you will be a key member in various elections-related administrative projects. Salary: $50,440 – $70,616 commensurate with experience. Deadline: open until filled. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Inside Sales Representative, Runbeck — to support our desired growth and market expansion, we continue to hire outstanding talent in multiple departments. We are looking for highly motivated, dedicated and talented individuals who will be able to contribute significantly to the success of the company while receiving great opportunities for professional growth and financial benefits. Responsibilities include: Contact potential or existing customers to inform them about a product or service; ability to present solution and its value to a prospect over the phone; answer questions about products or the company; ask questions to understand customer requirements and close sales; enter and update customer information in the database; keep records of calls and sale and note useful information in the CRM; process orders in an accurate manner; and go the “extra mile” to meet sales quota and facilitate future sales. Application: In order to apply, please send a resume to Tammy White: twhite@runbeck.net.
Manager, Voter Registration Division, Richland County, South Carolina— the purpose of the class is to plan, manage and supervise the Voter Registration Division of the Board of the Board of Elections and Voter Registration office; to oversee daily division operations, ensuring accurate implementation of all voter registration procedures as established by laws and regulations; to perform all duties to facilitate the voter registration process; to ensure the lawful conduct of all elections; and to ensure integrity and accuracy of all election activities and tabulations. Supervises subordinate staff; supervisory duties include instructing, planning and assigning work, reviewing work, maintaining standards, coordinating activities, selecting new personnel, acting on employee problems, recommending and approving employee discipline and discharge, and recommending employee transfers, promotions and salary increases. Reviews the work of subordinates for completeness and accuracy; evaluates work performance and makes recommendations for improvement; offers training, advice and assistance as needed. Assists the Executive Director directly and indirectly in the supervision of the daily operations and functions of the office and/or any satellite offices to include but not limited to directing, instructing, assigning, reviewing, and planning work of full time and temporary staff; maintaining standards, coordinating activities, providing and allocating resources, responding to problems/complaints/inquiries, and monitoring execution of proper laws, regulations, procedures, and customer service. This class works within broad policy and organizational guidelines and does independent planning and implementation, reporting progress of major activities through periodic conferences and meetings. Performs duties and responsibilities of the Voter Registration Division in the absence of the Executive Director. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Python Developer, Clear Ballot — Clear Ballot seeks a talented python developer in the Boston area to assume responsibility for an existing suite of python scripts to create files for use with ClearVote(TM) digital voting system. Job responsibilities: Maintain and enhance existing python scripts that read PDF formatted ballot styles and produce the files needed by ClearVote (TM) digital voting system to tabulate said ballot; Run existing python scripts to generate marked test ballots for use in testing ClearVote(TM); Develop and execute test plans to guarantee ClearVote tabulates marked ballots correctly; Expand PDF parsing capabilities as new customer’s ballot styles are introduced; Leverage analytics you gather to improve performance through script and/or hardware changes; Must perform these duties within aggressive timelines that often require working outside of normal business hours. Application: For the complete listing and to apply, click here.
Registrar of Voters, Sacramento County, California— The County of Sacramento is seeking a dynamic individual with an extensive background in election services as well as a proven ability to establish and maintain collaborative, professional relationships with external and internal agency officials and elections staff. Ideal candidates are hands-on, strategic managers who have proven leadership ability to effectively manage an established team to achieve set goals. The County is looking for a self-driven and enthusiastic leader with solid experience as Director of Elections. The Director must be personable and approachable and work well with individuals at all levels of the organization. Ideal candidates are experienced leaders who can hold staff accountable while promoting teamwork and cultivating an environment of mutual respect. Successful candidates will exemplify personal integrity and dedication to public service as well as to the integrity of the elections process. Additionally, successful candidates will have exceptional interpersonal and communication skills. The Registrar of Voters will be a non-partisan, self-directed and result-oriented leader with extensive experience managing elections processes. Highly qualified candidates will have extensive, in-depth management experience working with local agencies on consolidated elections and coordinating external elections officials to broadcast and roll out new major law requirements. Salary: $138928-$153,171. Deadline: July 20. Application. For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Senior Elections Online Training Specialist, Michigan secretary of state’s office — this position oversees and leads Bureau of Elections (BOE) activities related to the planning, development, implementation, maintenance, communication and tracking of online training programs and other online references and resources. This position is responsible for overseeing and planning all aspects of the online Elections eLearning Center, which serves approximately 3,400 election officials statewide. Duties include development of the overall online training curriculum and required components of Michigan’s mandated Continuing Education program for election officials; developing and maintaining the overall online training learning management system (LMS) currently contracted with Cornerstone on Demand; developing online SCORM course material covering complex topics related to election administration, utilizing specialized software like Lectora and Camtasia; managing the system components related to enrolling, assigning, and tracking election officials’ completion of online coursework to ensure required training elements are completed timely; developing complex online data collection through an application like Zoho; managing contracts with outside service providers; and coordinating, managing and implementing continual updates and improvements to all BOE web resources. The position also provides technical assistance to Michigan election officials and BOE staff, develops training manuals and other reference material; leads and participates on special projects; and acts as a state- and national-level liaison for BOE related to our online training programs. Salary: $48,651-$71,156. Deadline: July 24. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Senior Level Software Developer, BPro — We are a well-established small business that has been developing requirements and producing software for the needs of state governments since 1985 and continue to maintain and upgrade many of those systems. We have offices in Pierre, South Dakota, Fargo, North Dakota, Minnesota & Virginia. We’re currently looking for an energetic and intelligent .Net Developer to join our growing team. Our ideal candidate is one who loves to learn, enjoys working as a team, and who can multitask and meet deadlines. Skills required: .NET, VB, VBA, ASP, SQL, HTML, and JavaScript. A four-year college degree is the minimum educational requirement. All applicants must have excellent written and verbal communications skills. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Senior Software Developer, Runbeck— Runbeck Election Services is looking for full stack enthusiasts who are comfortable tackling end-to-end and enjoy building products that solve big problems and delight customers. We’re a collaborative team who knows how to get things done (Lone Rangers need not apply). We believe that small teams focused on shipping software move the fastest and make the most impact. The ideal candidate for this position has extensive back end skills (C#, MVC, ASP.Net, SQL Server) paired with solid web and desktop skills (IIS, JavaScript, HTML 5, CSS, jQuery, WPF, Win Forms). Must have a solid grasp of our basic toolset (Jira, Visual Studio). Willing to learn new plug-ins and IDE enhancements in order to boost your productivity and are excited to introduce us to new tooling experiences that have worked for you in the past. You bring discipline and care about implementation practices. You are familiar with Agile/Scrum processes, practice common design patterns, embrace clean coding principles, and employ many other techniques in an effort to bring a high level of software craftsmanship to your finished product. Application: In order to apply, please send a resume to Tammy White: twhite@runbeck.net.
Software Product Specialist (Chicago, IL) – Dominion Voting Systems — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking a data-savvy and passionate Software Product Specialist to join our team in Chicago, IL! This position is responsible for the precise data entry and formatting of election information for our customers in order to style, proof, and finalize ballots which are utilized in elections. This position requires a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail as well as experience with Microsoft Excel including formulas and macros. 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.
Systems Manager(Chicago, IL) – Dominion Voting Systems — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking a tech-savvy, customer focused Systems Manager to join our team in Chicago, IL! This position will be responsible for the readiness of Dominion’s voting systems to perform properly in the assigned jurisdictions which includes defining the functionality of the D-Suite system, monitoring the development of the system in accordance with the required functionality, and managing its testing and preparation for delivery to the market. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Systems Specialist – Advanced Field Support (Toronto, ON) – Dominion Voting Systems — Dominion Voting Systems is seeking an experienced & passionate Systems Specialist – Advanced Field Support to join our team in Toronto, Ontario! This position provides highly skilled and technical support in the testing, implementing and triaging of election systems both pre and post deployment. This includes providing functionality requirements of the system, monitoring the development of the system in accordance with the required functionality, and participating in its testing and preparation for delivery to the market. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Marketplace
IX. Marketplace
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Voting Booths
Each aluminum briefcase contains the following: aluminum legs, privacy shield, writing base, light assembly. All units are in great shape dimensions are 22”x 18”x 3“. MFG: ESL. Election supplies Limited, Napa California. Quantity: 400 Price per unit is $50. Contact Greg Larson 408.569.1004