In Focus This Week
‘We were basically dead in the water’
Baltimore City ransomware attack affects board of elections
By M. Mindy Moretti
Electionline.org
Baltimore City’s new mayor had been on the job for just four days when he had to announce that the city’s computer system had fallen victim to a ransomware attack.
The person(s) behind the attack, which has been dubbed the RobinHood ransomware attack wanted $75,000 in Bitcoin to release the city’s computer system.
Mayor Jack Young has said the city will not pay and so while the city’s systems staff is trying to solve the problem, city agencies, including the Board of Elections have been left scrambling.
Abigail Goldman, deputy director of the board of elections said on the morning of May 7 staff at the board knew something was up because emails weren’t functioning properly, but they soon discovered it was much bigger than that.
“We found out about it with everybody else when the announcement was made by the mayor,” Goldman said.
After consulting with the city’s IT department, which took the elections office completely offline — no Internet, no word processing, no nothing — Goldman said call number two was to the State Board of Elections.
According to Nikki Charlson, deputy director of the Maryland State Board of Elections, the SBOE immediately disconnected the local election office from state networks and asked all network administrators to analyze system logs and network traffic looking for unusual activity. To-date, they have seen no unusual activity.
“We were basically dead in the water at that point,” Goldman said. “When people came in we were able to use paper forms.”
Goldman said that the SBOE and other boards in the state have been very helpful with helping the BCBOE get back on its feet.
Six staff from the BOE will be working remotely for the next few weeks. Three will be stationed in the Baltimore County Board of Elections and three will be stationed at the Harford County Board of Elections.
Sarah Mohan with the Harford County BOE said the staff are excited to have Baltimore City employees in their office and she hoped that getting back into their routine will bring their spirits up!
“We here at Harford County are always willing to lend a hand to other counties around the state,” said Cynthia Remmey, director of the Harford County BOE. “We are in this together.”
The SBOE is also helping how they can.
“Because we have a statewide, top-down voter registration system, we started processing electronic voter registration applications from Baltimore City voters,” Charlson said. “We also will accept filings from individuals who wish to file for next year’s Baltimore City mayoral and city council offices. Immediately, after the incident, we kept them updated on the steps we took to disconnect them from State networks and the results of our analysis of system logs and network activity.”
Goldman estimates that once those staff are in place in place and able to complete the necessary tasks like data entry, the city will be at about 80 percent of where they would normally be.
“Thank goodness it’s not an election year,” Goldman said.
Ransomware
So what exactly is ransomware and how can elections offices protect themselves from it?
“Ransomware is unfortunately one of the more challenging cybersecurity threats that election offices might face,” said Joseph Lorenzo Hall, chief technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology.
Ransomware is a type of malicious software, or malware, designed to deny access to a computer system or data until a ransom is paid. Ransomware typically spreads through phishing emails or by unknowingly visiting an infected website.
Hall said that in general there are two things that election officials can do to best prepare for this kind of event:
- Make sure all software is updated in a timely fashion; and
- Make sure you are backing up critical systems so that you can recover.
“Updating software may sound easy, but if an elections office has dependencies such as relying on the wider city or county infrastructure, this may be out of the election office’s hands and they may not be able to demand that the software they are using is updated as soon as new updates are available,” Hall said.
He noted that some of this can be mitigated by using what is called cloud computing or software-as-a-service, where some of the key office productivity tools an office would normally use locally (Word, Excel, email, etc.) are not hosted and maintained by the election official (or their city or county) but by a company that focuses on maintaining that software and protecting millions of other small-business-like entities.
Backing systems up has complications too, Hall said. So many people back systems up but rarely do they “practice” trying to use those backups suddenly to restore normal operations.
“This is why it is important to simulate a ransomware attack: have everyone realistically pretend that the office has been hit by a ransomware infection and, working with a few spare machines, they restore recent backups to those machines and demonstrate that they were able to recover and conduct normal elections business,” Hall recommended.
Moving forward, Goldman said the city estimates it will be at least three weeks before everything can be rebuilt and the departments are back up to speed.
As for how to prevent something like this from happening again in the future, Hall said that’s difficult. While the city could consider isolating the elections department systems like they did when Potter County, Texas was recently hit by a virus, but Hall said it’s not that simple.
“Isolating systems on different machines, different networks, or otherwise can mean that the program that want’s to ‘jump’ to another machine won’t be able to do that so easily. However, often there is some basic need for systems to be able to communicate (e.g., an elections staffer needs to update the elections webpage) and that can be increasingly painful in terms of heightened isolation of these systems,” Hall said. “After all, the most isolation in an typical elections office should be that of the Election Management System which should be ‘air-gapped’ meaning it is so isolated that there is no wired or wireless connection between those systems and other local or public networks, like the internet.”
Hall noted that there is no “silver bullet” solution, but Goldman has found a silver lining.
“Everybody is doing the best that they can,” Goldman said. “People [voters and candidates] are being very understanding of this.”
Election Security Updates
The House has reintroduced the Elections Security Act that is aimed at reducing risks posed by cyberattacks by foreign entities. According to The Hill, the bill would also require the establishment of cybersecurity standards for voting system vendors, and require states to use paper ballots during elections. Additionally, the legislation would establish a National Commission to Protect U.S. Democratic Institutions that would be tasked with countering efforts to undermine democratic institutions, and require the Director of National Intelligence to assess threats to election systems 180 days prior to an election.
In the Senate, a bipartisan group of senators have introduced legislation that would require a cybersecurity expert from the Department of Homeland Security be included on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s Technical Guidelines Committee.
The Voting System Cybersecurity Act’s main sponsors are Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), with the bill also co-sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and a group of 12 other senators including a number of 2020 candidates, introduced the Protecting American Votes and Elections (PAVE) Act that would mandate the use of paper ballots in U.S. elections and also ban all Internet, Wi-Fi and mobile connections to voting machines.
According to The Hill, he legislation would also give the Department of Homeland Security the power to set minimum cybersecurity standards for U.S. voting machines, authorize a one-time $500 million grant program for states to buy ballot-scanning machines to count paper ballots and require states to conduct risk-limiting audits of all federal elections in order to detect any cyber hacks.
The Senate legislation comes with a dose of reality though from Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) who during a Senate Rules Committee hearing with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission said that it is unlikely the Senate will vote on any election security legislation this year. When questioned by a fellow committee member about his assertion, Blunt pointed the finger at H.R. 1.
“I think the majority leader is of the view that this debate reaches no conclusion. And frankly, I think the extreme nature of H.R. 1 from the House makes it even less likely we are going to have that debate,” Blunt said according to The Hill.
Wyden has also sent a letter to the CEO of VR Systems raising concerns about whether the company was forthcoming during a 2017 and 2018 legal fight with the state of North Carolina when it denied in court filings that it’s e-poll book system had ever experienced a breach.
“The Mueller Report’s revelation that Russia infected your network with malware raises serious questions about your March 2018 claim your company had not experienced a security breach,” Wyden wrote according to FCW..
Election News This Week
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson recently announced a number of proposals to make it easier for military and overseas voters to cast a ballot including allowing members of the military and their spouses to be able to return their ballots electronically. Benson noted that some of the changes she wants to pursue will take legislative action, but others she will be able to dictate from her including better ways to track mailed ballots. “Currently, military service members and their families in Michigan face a series of obstacles in participating in our democracy, as my husband and I experienced firsthand,” Benson said at a press conference according to MILive.
The chief elections officials from 18 states recently participated in the Democracy Tour, a three-day visit to many of Alabama’s historically significant civil rights monuments. The 11 Republicans and seven Democrats visited Edmund Pettus Bridge, the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice among many other sites. According to ProPublica, Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin said aid the history of the struggle for the vote, and specifically registration, wasn’t something he’d previously understood. “I now have the perspective of both sides,” he according to the publication.
This week, the North Carolina State Board of Elections chose to remove Kim Strach as the executive director. The 3-2 vote was done remotely with all the members of the board of elections calling in because a fire alarm was going off in the building. Strach will be replaced by Karen Brinson Bell, a former elections director in Transylvania County. According to WRAL, before she became director six years ago, Strach was a board investigator.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has announced the three finalists for the state’s new “I Voted” stickers and now voting is open to choose the winner. More than 2,000 students statewide submitted entries. “I’m so encouraged by the overwhelming enthusiasm from young people all over our great state,” said LaRose. “It’s a testament to their passion for the power and importance of voting.” Do you have a favorite? We do!
Oh yeah…This week Yavapai County, Arizona Recorder Leslie Hoffman announced the two winners of the county’s “I Voted” sticker contest. There were two categories, one for digital artwork and one for hand-drawn artwork. The contest was open to all county high school students. Logan Pratt, a 12th grader at Camp Verde High School won the digital contest and Emily Hobson, an 11th grader at Prescott High School won the hand-drawn contest. The stickers will be available for voters in 2020.
Congratulations to Meagan Wolfe on her confirmation as the leader of the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Wolfe has been on the job on an interim basis for more than year and her term runs through 2023.
The Election Center has announced the retirement of Ernie and Pat Hawkins. Ernie was one of the founding members of the Election Center more than 30 years ago and Pat has worked right alongside him handling all the logistics of the Center’s workshops, conferences and programs. “It is hard to imagine an Election Center event without Ernie and Pat,” wrote the Election Center Board of Directors in a statement about the retirement. “They have dedicated a good part of their lives to protecting democracy through the training and professionalization of election administrators who are the gate keepers of our nation’s participatory form of governing.” Tim Mattice, executive director of the Election Center said Ernie and Pat plan to spend their retirement years traveling the world. We would like to wish Ernie and Pat a happy and well-earned retirement.
Personnel News: Ryan Macias has stepped down as the acting director of testing and certification for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Jerome Lovato has been hired as the new director for testing and certification for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Laura Burns, deputy director of elections for the Mercer County, Ohio board of elections has stepped down. Utah Lt. Governor Spencer Cox, who serves as the state’s highest election official, announced this week that he would run for governor in 2020. Catherine McMullen is the new Lake County, California registrar of voters. Bill Haine has been appointed to the Illinois state board of elections. Laura Kent Donahue has been appointed to the Illinois state board of elections.
Research and Report Summaries
The Center for Internet Security released a guide on election technology procurement earlier this month. The resource, A Guide for Ensuring Security in Election Technology Procurements, offers best practices for election officials on election technology procurement and discusses assessing and managing security risk in election systems, the procurement process, the IT product and services lifecycle, and cybersecurity practices beyond procurement. The guide includes suggested language for election officials to use in their requests for proposals and other procurement documents.
Democracy North Carolina released a report on early voting in North Carolina’s this week. The report, Greater Costs, Fewer Options: The Impact of the Early Voting Uniform Hours Requirement in the 2018 Election, finds that Senate Bill 325 (S325) limited early voting options in many parts of the state during the 2018 midterms. Following the passage of S325, 43 of North Carolina’s 100 counties eliminated at least one early voting site, almost half reduced the number of weekend days for early voting, and about two-thirds reduced the number of weekend hours, compared to 2014. S325 will eliminate the last Saturday of early voting for elections beyond 2018. During the 2018 midterms, this last Saturday was the only weekend early voting option in 56 of North Carolina’s 100 counties, and it was a popular day to cast an early ballot for 18- to 25-year old voters.
The Electoral Integrity Project released a report on perceptions of electoral integrity during the 2018 U.S. midterm elections earlier this month. The report, Electoral Integrity in the 2018 American Elections, draws its conclusions from a survey of 574 U.S. political scientists, who were asked to evaluate the midterms across 49 indicators, including on election laws and procedures, district boundaries, voter registration, candidate and party registration, media coverage, campaign finance, the voting process, vote counting, results, and election authorities. Using all indicators, the states rated highest were Vermont, Washington, Maine, Minnesota, and Iowa. The lowest rated states were Georgia, Florida, Indiana, and South Carolina.
(Research and Report Summaries are written by David Kuennen.)
Legislative Updates
Federal Legislation: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) has introduced legislation that would help Americans affected by or displaced by natural disasters to maintain their ability to vote through a Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot.
Alabama: The Alabama House Constitution, Campaigns and Elections advanced SB 313 and HB 596, companion bills that would clarify that only United States citizens have the right to vote in Alabama elections.
Arizona: By a 39-21 vote, the House has approved a bill that would move the state’s primary from the last week in August to the first week.
Maine: The House voted 85 to 54 in support of a proposed constitutional amendment that would expand ranked choice voting to all races on the ballot. While it was approved by a winning margin, constitutional amendments need two-thirds votes in both chambers along with voter approval.
Maryland: The Kensington Town Council voted 3 to 1 to allow a 16-year-old high school junior to petition town residents about lowering the voting age to 16. If the student gets 300 signatures, it’s then up to the town council to decide to amend the city charter immediately or to put the question to the voters in 2020.
Massachusetts: The city of Summerville has sent a Home Rule Petition to the statehouse seeking approval to allow 16- and 17-year-olds vote in local elections. The city council unanimously approved the move.
Nevada: Gov. Steve Sisolak has signed Assembly Bill 137 into law. The new law eliminates the requirement for tribal governments to obtain approval from the offices of local city and county election officials in order to establish polling sites in each election. Under AB 137, county and city clerks will be required to continue to recognize established polling places within the boundaries of tribal lands in each election, unless otherwise requested by tribal authorities.
Oregon: By a 19-9 vote, the Senate has approved Senate Bill 60 which would prevent election officials from putting their name on the voters’ pamphlet, ballot return envelopes or any other printed materials included with the ballot during elections in which they are a candidate.
Texas: The Senate has approved a bill that would move bond, debt and tax elections to November. Additionally, the bill places a limit on the wording length of propositions explaining the purposes of a bond election.
Vermont: Voters in Montpelier approved a ballot measure that would have allowed non-citizens to vote in local elections. In Brattleboro, voters approved a measure allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections. Because they are municipal charter changes, they must be approved by the state Legislature. According to Vermont Public Radio, lawmakers have decided to block action this year on the legislation that would have allowed the revisions to go into effect.
Legal Updates
Florida: U.S. District Judge Mark Walker has ordered 32 Florida counties to provide Spanish-language ballots beginning with the 2020 presidential primaries.
Missouri: Former Stoddard County Deputy Clerk Ginger McCoy has filed suit against the county alleging that she was wrongfully terminated for questioning irregularities in the April 2 municipal election.
Ohio: A three-judge panel that found Ohio’s congressional map unconstitutional ruled last week that they will not delay their order for a new map to be drawn by June 14. The state has said they will seek a Supreme Court ruling.
Tennessee: The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a second lawsuit against a new voter registration law that penalizes third-party groups. The ACLU, Campaign Legal Center and Fair Elections Center sued in federal court, representing the League of Women Voters of Tennessee and four other groups. Tennessee’s NAACP and others sued separately. The suit says the law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
Texas: The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU Voting Rights Project, and the Texas Civil Rights Project joined the legal team representing Crystal Mason who was sentenced to five years in prison for casting a provisional ballot in November 2016. The ballot was not counted, and Mason said she did not know she was not allowed to vote while was on supervised release from a 2011 fraud conviction.
Tech Thursday
California: Contra Costa County recently released a new texting app that allows voters to request their vote-by-mail ballot. Voters simply text COCOBALLOT to 28683 and the texter receives a reply with a link to a form that they complete with their name, date of birth and mailing address. Paul Burgarino of the Contra Costa County Elections Division told the Associated Press the hope is the app will encourage more voters to get ballots through the mail. That, he said, is hoped to result in more voting, as voters will not have to work a trip to the polling place into their schedules.
Opinions This Week
National Opinions: U.S. Election Assistance Commission | Automatic voter registration | Felon voting rights, II | Voter suppression | List maintenance | Voting rights, II | Being pro-active
Arizona: Election laws
California: Double voting
Connecticut: Ranked choice voting
Florida: Ex-felon voting rights, II, III, IV, V | Election hacking | Bilingual ballots
Indiana: Early voting
Iowa: Suffrage
Maine: Voter registration | Primaries
Minnesota: Provisional ballots | Polling places | Ranked choice voting
New Jersey: Vote-by-mail | E-poll books
New Mexico: Ranked choice voting
North Carolina: State board of elections, II, III
Utah: Ranked choice voting
Upcoming Events
National Association of Secretaries Of State — The National Association of Secretaries of State will hold their annual summer conference in late June, early July in New Mexico. Watch this space for more details about agendas and registrations. When: June 30-July 3. Where: Santa Fe, New Mexico.
International Association of Government Officials — “Educate-Elevate-Energize-Engage” is the theme of this year’s annual conference. The conference will include numerous education sessions and workshops as well as a visit to the NASA Houston Space Center. Where: Houston. When: July 11-17.
National Association of Counties — NACo’s 2019 Annual Conference will be held in Clark County (Las Vegas). Although the schedule and keynote speakers are still being hammered out there will be two symposiums on disaster management including an interactive roundtable. When: July 12-15. Where: Las Vegas.
National Association of State Election Directors — The NASED Summer Conference will be held in Austin, Texas, July 14-16, 2019. Watch this space for more details about agendas and registration.
National Conference of State Legislatures: NCSL’s Legislative Summit will feature numerous elections-related sessions include several about redistricting, voter registration, infrastructure and the Census. And if that wasn’t enough, Dolly Parton will be one of the featured keynote speakers. When: August 5-8. Where: Nashville.
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.
Deputy Director, Pasquotank County, North Carolina — This position requires some knowledge of the principles and practices of the North Carolina elections process. Employee will serve as Deputy to the Director of Elections, and perform all duties required for effectively administering elections and other elections office activities. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, standard clerical tasks; data entry; database maintenance; professional creation of documents using Microsoft Office applications; maintenance and auditing of campaign finance records; coordination and preparation of training and outreach activities; and general support to the Director of Elections and Board Members as needed. Performs other related duties as directed. Salary: Begins at $35,800. Deadline: May 31. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Deputy Director, Washington Secretary of State’s Office— this position reports to the certification and training program manager and is responsible for overseeing, reviewing and advising county auditors on the federal and state elections laws and the administration of voter registration. Serves as the lead program specialist in the required election administrator certification program; Certifies state and local election administrators following a series of classes and tests. Participates in the elections training program and county election review program; travels extensively throughout the state to conduct reviews of county elections departments. Participates in the initiative and referenda filing and clearinghouse advisories program. Provide support to Washington State counties on election processes, county WEI systems, and logic and accuracy test program. Salary: $4,275.00 – $5,745.00 Monthly. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Deputy Director, Center for Election Innovation & Research— the Deputy Director will report to the Executive Director and have a broad range of responsibilities designed to support CEIR’s mission. In this position, the Deputy Director will play an integral role in the development and execution of CEIR’s programming, strategic communications, and continued growth as an organization. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced and highly motivated individual who wants to make a substantial, positive, nonpartisan impact on elections and American democracy. The Deputy Director’s primary workplace will be CEIR’s Washington, DC office. The Deputy Director also must be available for business travel as needed. CEIR believes that working alongside and understanding the diverse mix of people who are affected by elections and American democracy is key to achieving our mission. That’s why we’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a diverse, non-discriminatory work environment. We recruit, employ, train, compensate, and promote regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Director of Elections/General Registrar, Stafford County, Virginia — this is a four-year term position appointed by the Electoral Board with a starting date of July 1, 2019 and an end date of June 30, 2023. Multiple terms are allowed. The Stafford County Electoral Board is seeking a Director of Elections/General Registrar to provide professional and technical leadership to the Office of The General Registrar and manage the planning, overseeing, and administering of voter registration and elections in Stafford County’s 28 precincts for our 95,000 registered voters. The Director is responsible for ensuring the necessary resources are acquired and in place to maintain the list of registered voters and assure elections are well-prepared and conducted in an accurate, efficient, and transparent manner. Salary: $100k-$108 DOQ. Deadline: June 9. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Election Coordinator, Solano County, California— The Elections Coordinator is a supervisor who is charged with successfully overseeing a specific election function – this could be either Voter Registration, Vote by Mail, Candidate Services, or Poll Places/Poll Workers. Each of the four Coordinators within our office are rotated every four years for cross-training and expanding job knowledge. Additional duties involve participating in developing, updating and implementing office procedures to comply with Federal and State laws; training staff and potentially poll workers; working with community stakeholders in achieving our mission; or coordinating the work of contractors that assist with our operation. The Ideal candidates will have experience in conducting elections and supervising employees. Skills in Microsoft Office applications including Access and Excel; Geographic information systems such as ArcMap; or experience with web design and adobe software packages are beneficial. Salary: $33.41 – $40.61 hourly. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections Director, Coconino County, Arizona— Under general direction performs work of unusual difficulty directing the strategic and operational functions of the Elections Department; performs related work as assigned. Typical Duties: In partnership with the Board of Supervisors, County Recorder and County Manager, determines the goals, objectives, and operational priorities of the Elections Division. Under limited supervision plans, organizes, coordinates and directs election administration functions for which the County has responsibility. Coordinates Elections Division activities with the Voter Registration Division. Develops and revises procedures, forms, schedules and policies for the preparation and conduct of elections. Ensures all voting procedures are in compliance with Arizona State Statutes, Arizona Secretary of State’s Election Procedures manual and federal statutes. Remains current of changes in election methods, election information management systems and voting hardware and software. Ensures quality control of all aspects of elections. Develops and manages the division’s budget. Responsible for review and oversight of contracts with vendors. Hires, supervises, evaluates and disciplines staff. Prepares and updates records and reports. Responsible for retention of election materials in accordance with the state retention schedule. Coordinates with state, cities, towns, and special districts for election services though Intergovernmental Agreements. Responsible for all candidate filing activities for people running for county elected offices. Ensures the necessary information and forms are available to candidates and political committees and that candidate and committee filings are maintained in accordance with all applicable laws. Responsible for campaign finance and financial disclosure filing activities to ensure that all required deadlines are met and reports are maintained in accordance with all applicable laws. Coordinates county, state, federal and jurisdictional ballot orders, layout and proofing along with ordering and distribution of regular and early ballots. Responsible for ensuring that ballots are designed to meet 100% accuracy of content and statutory requirements. Ensures that ballots are printed, delivered and tested and meet all necessary and legal deadlines. Responsible for the security, auditing and accountability of all election materials and equipment. Responsible for the accurate programming and maintenance of elections programs, electronic pollbooks and tabulation units. Responsible for activating and deactivating cellular or WiFi services for electronic pollbooks, including testing reception from every voting location in the county prior to every election. Responsible for internal and public logic and accuracy testing of all the voting equipment. Responsible for acquiring and maintaining all election equipment and materials needed for conduct of elections. Responsible for the development and conduct of training for all election personnel, including election board workers. Responsible for identifying and contracting with the voting locations for all early and Election Day voting. Ensures all voting locations comply with Federal law and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Responsible for all ballot tabulation activities. Verifies elections results and distributes reports to the Board of Supervisors and other. jurisdictions for post-election canvassing. Responsible for the conduct of the post-election hand audit. Supervises the filing, archiving, disposal or destruction of election materials in compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. Salary: $87,161.00 – $100,235.00 Annually. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Election Information/Technology Technician, Wake County, North Carolina — The Wake County Board of Elections is seeking an Information Technology Technician to manage the IT services required to conduct elections for the citizens of Wake County. The ideal candidate will possess experience working in a field support setting with computer equipment, networking, software installation and troubleshooting, database development, and customer support. THIS IS NOT YOUR TYPICAL IT HELP DESK SUPPORT ROLE. In this physically demanding position, you will need to be able to lift up to 50 lbs and endure extended periods of time lifting, squatting, crawling in tight spaces, climbing on ladders to pull cables from drop ceilings, pushing and pulling bins on wheels, carrying supplies and equipment. Work is performed mostly indoors investigating or installing networks, running cables, setting up computers and peripherals at voting locations. You will spend your time between the BOE Operations Center, Wake County Commons Building, additional training facilities, polling places, and early voting locations across the county (churches, community centers, libraries, schools, etc.). Salary: Hiring Range: $20.88 – $28.19. Deadline: May 17. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Elections Lead Specialist, Douglas County, Colorado— The Elections Lead Specialist assists in the supervision and coordination of elections operations, staff, and election judges including voter services, mail ballot processing and the conduct of elections. The objective of this position is to perform a variety of functions and diverse support roles on a routine basis. Mail Ballot Processing responsibilities are prioritized over other duties during election cycles, which may increase or decrease dramatically depending on the Elections cycle. In the absence of the Operations Manager, assumes responsibility for front-line functions associated with elections operations. This is a highly visible position requiring exceptional leadership, organizational, and communication skills. Salary: $3,550-$4,438 monthly. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Election Specialist I, Douglas County, Colorado — This position is focused on routine customer service and general office/clerical support including data entry, communications, and processing mail. This is a support role capable of performing a variety of tasks, with problem solving abilities, managing multiple competing responsibilities and prioritizing to maintain a continuous flow of election office operations. This is a visible and crucial position requiring exceptional computer, customer service, and communication skills. This is a benefited part-time position and benefits are pro-rated to 30 hours per week. This is an open until filled posting, review of applications and interviews will begin immediately and continue until suitable candidates are selected. Salary: $16.40-$20.50/hourly. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Election Specialist II, Douglas County, Colorado— The Election Specialist II is responsible for routine support services related to temporary employees, training, Voter Service and Polling Centers, mail ballot processing, voter registration, and customer service. This position contributes to the department’s achievement of delivering efficient, transparent, fair and accurate elections as well as performs other projects as assigned. This position requires technical work in a lead role capable of performing a variety of complex tasks, with solving problem abilities, managing multiple competing tasks and prioritizing to maintain a continuous flow of operations and temporary support. This is a visible and crucial position requiring previous elections experience, and exceptional computer, customer service, and communication skills. Please note this position is posted as open until filled, review of applications will begin immediately and continue until a suitable candidate is selected. Salary: $3,214 – $4,017 Monthly. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Executive Director, State Democracy Project— The inaugural Executive Director will provide the strategic and forward-thinking leadership needed to take our vision and make it a reality. With an eye to deepening relationships and taking bold action, the ED will ensure that the SDP works in genuine ongoing partnership with the dozens of national and state organizations that actively participate in the project. The ED will also organize and utilize the talent, resources, and relationships critical for near-term wins on structural democracy reforms.This position will report to the Board of Directors, which is comprised of coalition partner representatives. It will be the ED’s responsibility to manage all that comes with establishing a startup based on a coalitional model. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Project Manager, Hart InterCivic— Project Managers at Hart InterCivic are highly motivated “self-starters” who are enthusiastic about providing exceptional customer service. Working with other members of the Professional Services and Operations teams, the Project Manager directs activity, solves problems, and develops lasting and strong relationships with our customers. Hart InterCivic’s unique and industry known culture of innovation, transparency, and customer-centric focus creates an environment where team members will continually grow and be challenged to develop their careers. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Policy & Data Research Analyst, New York City Campaign Finance Board— The New York City Campaign Finance Board seeks a Policy & Data Research Analyst to perform original research to help inform the agency’s policy and program choices on campaign finance and voting. This position will report to the Deputy Director of Public Affairs. Responsibilities: Under the direction of the Deputy Director of Public Affairs, design and perform analysis of campaign finance records, elections and voter participation data; Research policy and legislative issues related to campaign finance, voter participation, and election administration in New York City and New York State; Assist in preparing reports and policy briefs on campaign finance and election performance; and work with Public Affairs staff to create policy recommendations to improve the public matching funds program, voter participation, and election administration. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Product Manager, Hart InterCivic — as Product Manager, you will join a team that is charged with product planning, design, and execution throughout the lifecycle of Hart’s products, in support of the company’s overall strategy and goals. This includes: gathering, validating, and prioritizing internal and external customer needs; documenting and communicating product and technical requirements; gathering market and competitive intelligence; supporting the certification, sales, and marketing teams. The Product Manager must possess a unique blend of business and technical savvy – with experience in elections technology or other government-oriented products preferred. To succeed in this role, the ideal candidate must spend time in the market to understand its unique attributes; demonstrate competence with specialized hardware and software; and find innovative solutions for the broader market. The Product Manager plays a key role in helping others to understand the product positioning, key benefits, and target customer, as well as providing advanced subject matter expertise in using the company’s products. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Red Team Independent Contractor, Galois— Galois seeks an experienced Red Team Lead with red teaming and/or CTF experience of purported secure systems that include custom hardware to play a pivotal role in fulfilling our mission to make trustworthy critical systems. The role will be responsible for the strategic and tactical direction of a small team dedicated to red team activities. The team is responsible for developing threat simulation services, threat research, structured attack development, vulnerability research and exploit development/testing, scripting and controlled exploitation of hardware and software vulnerabilities. The scope of the position also requires understanding a complex cyber-physical system architecture to develop a precise threat model, red teaming framing, and win conditions for both the DEF CON exercises. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Research Scientist, MIT Election Data and Science Lab— MEDSL seeks a research scientist to oversee the data science workflow of the lab’s election-related data collection, processing, and dissemination efforts. MEDSL aims to improve the democratic experience for all U.S. voters by applying scientific principles to how elections are studied and administered. Responsibilities include assisting the director with designing and implementing research projects; gathering and analyzing data, designing research protocols, and documenting results; managing data science and quality control for the 2018 release of the Elections Performance Index (EPI); acquiring data from government sources and designing protocols to update indicators not provided by government sources; assisting with redistricting data collection/dissemination efforts; working with web designers to update EPI website and creating original content for MEDSL website; onboarding and monitoring the work of students/research support associates; tracking scholarship in the field of election science; and performing other data science/administrative/reporting duties as assigned. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Software Sales Specialist, VOTEC— VOTEC’s Sales Specialist is responsible for creating news sales with prospects and existing clients in targeted areas in the US. We are looking for an election professional comfortable using insight and consultative selling techniques to create interest that offers unique solutions on their operations, which link back to VOTEC’s solutions. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Technical Bid Specialist, Scytl — The Technical Bid Specialist is an essential member of the sales team, supporting business development initiatives as well as providing support to the Marketing department. Based in our Tampa Florida, offices, the Technical Bid Specialist is in charge of managing the coordination, completion and handover of tender proposals for our clients and prospects. This is a key position with a great deal of involvement in the sales process and a decisive influence in the achievement of each deal. To be able to perform this task, the Technical Bid Specialist needs to possess a solid technical background, outstanding writing capabilities and proven experience in pre-sales or consulting endeavors, always facing the client and having to put together complex IT proposals or projects. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Training Officer, Collier County, Florida— The purpose of this classification is to provide assistance in the Training & Outreach Department within the Supervisor of Elections office. This position coaches, trains, and educates election workers in accordance with the State of Florida’s election laws and rules. Work involves designing, developing, and delivering multimodal adult learning programs, developing training materials, scheduling training sessions, and recruiting, assigning and evaluating election workers for upcoming election cycles. Application: For the complete job listing and to apply, click here.
Marketplace
electionline provides no guarantees as to the quality of the items being sold and the accuracy of the information provided about the sale items in the Marketplace. Ads are provided directly by sellers and are not verified by electionline. If you have an ad for Marketplace, please email it to: mmoretti@electionline.org