Should States Create an Office of Elections Cybersecurity to Fight Voting Disinformation?

by Causes | 9.21.18

What’s the story?

• California has approved plans to create an Office of Elections Cybersecurity that will address cyber threats to the state’s voting systems and flag social media posts spreading false information about the electoral process.

“People deserve to have confidence in our elections systems, and countering wrong information has become an important part of that,” said Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat who hopes the office will be functional before the November midterms.

Example?

One of the oft-cited examples of election misinformation being spread online is this image of actor Aziz Ansari holding a Photoshopped sign urging voters to cast their ballot for Hillary Clinton via text:

None of the above information is true.

What are critics saying?

• “We should not give the secretary of state the authority to decide subjectively what is false or misleading information the election!” Republican Assemblyman Matthew Harper said during floor debate on the bill. He continued:

“If indeed this was about making sure to avoid situations in which someone was giving wrong information about when to vote, how to vote, etc., then it should have been specifically and narrowly tailored to that.”

What do you think?

Should all states create an Office of Elections Cybersecurity? Or are you concerned about giving the secretary of state “authority to decide subjectively what is false or misleading information the election”? Hit Take Action and tell your reps.

—Josh Herman