have to have a drivers license and then the nearest dmv to some of them is 50 miles away. how are you supposed to dry. and there's no bus. it's really important to me that we are able to get access to people of color join as the first and third weekends of each month. as we explore the american story. and now a look at how state and federal officials are working to secure the 2018 midterm election from cyber threats. millions in federal funds. in the federal government began sharing more information about cyber attacks. we will hear from for secretariats estates about their election security efforts. but first remarks by christopher kratz. the national protection and programs. one of the things i'm in it

touch on is not what dhs has done. both the government and industry. they ensure that the 200018 midterms lead up to being the most secure election in the modern era. i think i have increasingly talked over the last few months about the way i see the world today in the terms of anniversaries. i had boiled it down to about three right now. one is september 11. two is two years ago. at the the russian attempt to interfere. and then the third inning anniversary is 1957. where am i going with this. first on 911 -- september 11. that was a failure of intelligence.

to really understand what's going on. what our adversaries can do on our own infrastructure injustice. and really undermine where we are as a people and a confidence in our government's ability to protect us. first and foremost 15 years ago the department of homeland security was created. we will get that name changed. our responsibility is coordinating federal efforts. two years ago, when the russians attempted to interfere in in some cases interfered with the 2016 election. i think historically up till then they had been thinking about cyber security and from intellectual property perspective.

we recognize that it can be used to destabilize government. that designation was not one happened necessarily smoothly. there was challenges in the partnership. in terms of where we are today, i want to walk through three quick buckets. what are the things that we have made as a community. the second is given that were three weeks out 21 days now from the midterm election what we think might happen. dhs released a report last week to talk a little bit about what we are seeing out there. and what can we do together. in terms of where we've come it's important to recognize and underscore the state and

local election officials are at minus -- right now, that is just an absolute truism. the responsibility on the federal government is to have that resource and support. including intelligence. to help these networks. in the terms of the progress he made. there was no real good way for the department of homeland security to reach out otherwise with any state election official. whether it secretary of state or the election director for a large city or county. we probably didn't really even understand that there were such a thing with the election assistance commission.

there was not a strong relationship in these two. we have governance mechanisms which is just a really bad bureaucracy way of saying we all worked together really closely now. two years ago it in. if i needed to get a piece of information. i can do it quickly. if they have a clearance. if it is that actionable we will deal with the consequences later. me on that in terms of technical support we are providing assistance across the board right now we have done about 35 vulnerability assessments for large jurisdiction states and counties. that is compared to about one prior to the 2016 election. there was not a strong relationship. there are two most significant areas of progress to close the

bucket out. one is that information sharing and analysis centers our things that exist across the infrastructure sectors so that they can share information on current threats. as of february the beginning of february of this year there was no election related information and ensuring analysis center. he has participation from all 50 states. in over 13 counties and local jurisdictions. that is one of the fastest growing infrastructure sector across the 16 sectors. that shows the commitment not just dhs. they are seeing this as a team sport. the second, significant amount

of progress we made. is in terms of the albert sensor. they push out to state partners. the multistate. and set other information sharing center. it was less than 30% of state election officials. as of today in the run-up from the election. in three weeks. over 92 percent. a hundred% as the stretch goal. what that gets us is the ability to push the same indicators that protect federal at networks out to state networks.

that is a significant amount of progress. and were when i can stop there. we are going to continue to increase these partnerships and the ability of technical resources but whether a state or local official takes a dhs service as long as they take some service that's what matters. it is contributing to the overall network. there is some reporting yesterday. they had been there with an uptick of activity. what we are getting right now, is an increase in reporting from our state and local partners to dhs. two years ago, there was no flow of reporting. it was stain in the staying in the state networks.

of what's going on out there across the state and local networks. i think we are seen a consistent and persistent level of activity whether it is just simple scanning the misconfigured network. we continue to see those campaigns. well have any indicators that there is a significant campaign afoot. what does that mean for us. we are planning and working with our state and local partners to plan as if they will come back. its cover down on the basics. it is cyber hygiene it's 101

type stuff. we are issuing the guidance, congress made a significant down payment $380 million. earlier this spring. it allowed state one of the things we did with that, alongside working with these partners. and highlighted some of the things that states if they had needed a wish list of how to develop an investment plan. we are not seen a real increase in activity, what we think may happen.

as described in the intelligence community assessment there were three areas of activity. one was the technical cyber security efforts to compromise state and local elections infrastructure. the second piece was hacking leak operations against campaigns. in empirical candidates. and then linking the information. and then hacking in their e-mail and then releasing by third parties. the third is the standard information. when i sit back and i think about what may happen in this three weeks. i think they just had an opportunity for the adversary to push guidance. we also think social media. there has been continued social media to push divisiveness. really find issues that had

clear lines down the middle and amplifying the separation between the american voter. we continue to see that. we will continue to see that. when we think about it the cost of investing in those operations is fairly low. it is pretty effective. in its low costs. they can hit it and leave. on a technical cyber security perspective. it's probably a little bit more expensive to develop these operations stand up with infrastructure. it is certainly not as effective technically is an information operation and the risk is significantly higher from actually being on network.

two buckets right there. the information operation. the third piece that i think about right now is something that happens it's a highbred attack. think about a day before for two days before some sort of activity where there is a spearfishing campaign. any sort of information. are they registered to vote. anything that would drive uncertainty across the voting public. that's probably the area that we are can see some activity everywhere to see anything. it wouldn't necessarily be in disrupting or compromising equipment at this point. in terms of changing the tally. it is undermining confidence

in our democratic institutions it's undermining the principle of the way we vote. that is probably the most with the biggest space bar opportunity. the government whether it is the federal government or the state government continues can and will continue to push the basic sides of the practices. proper configuration. we can send news to see that. it's a good cyber practice. we will stop humoring the basics.

with the free services to state and local election officials. in the campaigns. they are going to go to industry. the thing we have to do going forward something that election officials in the run-up to the election can get a good understanding on what the upside is. and you can compare and contrast across different services. what can the voting public you. right now when you leave here. check your voter registration check to make sure you know where you are registered to vote so when november 6 rolls around you know exactly where you are going. know what any identification requirements may be. know your rights. every state does provisional ballots little bit different.

a weather-related event. something always happens give the right to request a provisional ballot. you can do that. but everybody has a role to play here. i think this goes back to my third anniversary. that's 1957 and sputnik. in the united states they realized that the russians have gotten the artificial satellite in the lower orbit before we did had two things. one of the technological minds was put into question. also, given the icbm that launched that satellite up in the space. they now realize that the russians could jump across those oceans. whether it was the atlantic or the pacific. everything was a little bit closer to home.

other nationstates can influence the way that we vote and can undermine our confidence. as a result, there was a mobilization across government industry in the public to support that push to space. we are in the same spot right now. they have a role in securing the vote and looking forward to the rest of the conversation today. incorporation you for the opportunity to speak. when you go home tonight. make sure you know where you are going to vote. thank you. our program on securing the 2018 elections continues with four secretaries of state. representing vermont, connecticut iowa and west virginia. they were appeared early october. on the washington journal.

>> is a current president of the secretary of state and secretary kindness we appreciate you being here with us today. you begin that piece looking back on the day that the department of homeland security that the election systems had been attacked. back in 2016. what do you think the lesson was from those attacks. i dig it's important to remember there were 21 states and it was only one state that was actually breached according to the department of homeland security. that meant that 20 states actually do their job. we are in far better shape than we were we are talking to

secretaries of states around the country today during the next two hours of the washington journal. we are asking them about election security. in your mind when our voting whchines most voluble -- vulnerable. is it on the election day when people are voting. or is it sometime after votes are cast but before they are reported out. that is an interesting question the way you post it. i would say i don't believe the voting machines themselves unless you're talking about touch screen technology perhaps they are just scanners they calculate the results from the actual ballots. those are not in danger. it has been poorly portrayed in the media to say that there is a potential. when you think about it, there

is a strict chain of command for the member cards. f they are not sent to the town clerk's and let me just go back and say here in vermont om go directly from the state level down to the town level. and they are the ones that actually manage our elections. they've a strict chain of command with regards to the memory cards. they don't receive until two to three weeks before the election. they do an accuracy test before. they are checked on the morning of. i think it is important to remember that we are balancing and creating a fine balancing act between the cyber security and opening up to our election process to the general public.to

i think it is important to remember that we are constantly focus now especially since 2016. on cyber security. >> how much more is the federal government involved in that process. let me back up to 2016. with the secretary of state's and they were called to the conference call. we were informed that there was an attack that have occurred. and we were perhaps the federal government was considering creating a critical infrastructure time for elections. we do not know what that meant. i think many red states and blue states who are were opposed to that designation because we have no idea if it

was a federal takeover of our election process. to say that it was a rocky road in the beginning as far as communications i think they would agree to that. what has happened since then. the critic goal infrastructure was designated january 17 we actually did not find out what resources and what that meant for us until june or july of that. we have since set up coordinating council of which i and others our members of. we have a lot of resources at the department of homeland security. it has provided for us. the penetration test vulnerability assessments, here in vermont we actually do a weekly hygiene scan of our system through the vhs currently. the communication level since

last summer has increased has increased tremendously. we will get real-time information as to any threats that may be on the horizon. and were constantly focused on focus on how we can do this. i can go into that detail. i'm sure you can ask. all about the different things we head in place. >> a lot of the issue that you're talking about.ot in the new aspects funded through some $380 million in federal funding that has gone out through the help america vote act. they've about $3 million worth of those funds. how did you choose to use them.un >> let's talk about that $380 million. i was working with senator leahy. is left over money from 2002.

and it was the remaining portion of the $3.9 billion that were handed out or approved back in 2002. this is money that we knew in many of the secretaries were putting our congressional delegation to try to move as quickly as possible. most of us did not receive our money until june. and we had been focused on things that we can do. many states, including my own. we had added a new voting system that is fully ada compliant. in which we came out with a very good report that said we were a mature system.

we hope to use some of that money going forward probably from 2020 or 2022. with the national inspection. how many people different voting systems are in use across all 50 states. in all of the jurisdictions. it all varies. here in vermont has the same system throughout the state. other states they leave it up to the jurisdiction. it varies. there is a lot of different equipment out there. i believeui that every state in every locality in every county is working hard to make sure that everything is in the best practice. i create those best practices.

they are backed up on a daily basis. if the worst were to happen. we could always go back 24 hours and reset our database. i think the ultimate resilience. nobody coming to the polls will be denied the right to cast the ballot. how may companies are out there taking voting machines. are there few big companies. >> i don't know if i would call it lobbying we will generally do about eight to 12 months worth of business analysis.

it may require us to go back to the legislature. we do have this different procurement systems. you have to actually go through strong process to determine what the requirements are. are there process improvements that are needed.en is a constant battle to do this. we look at those rfps and determine that. to see what looks to be the best fit. and then they make a choice.

to say that they are lobbying us as i don't think that that happens. they think there's is the best. have you ever thought of coming up with a standard voting machine. >> i'm not aware of it. i know that the eac. it usually follows as recommendations. with our stay in vermont. that's one of the requirements that i have. it must be eac certified or certified by another state. the cyber security unit. >> and joining us aboard the c-span bus is secretary of state denise merrill.

since the 2016 election that connecticut was one of those states that have its voting targeted. what were they try to do. and how far did they get in connecticut. good morning. knitting get anywhere frankly. we turn them back at the perimeter of our system as we do most of these kind of systems. i have to tell you it's a very common occurrence. the difference here was it was a russian agency ip address. they did not get into our system at all. it has nothing to do with the tabulation of balance. i don't know what they were attempting to do. i was president of the national association in 2016.

i was pretty involved with all of the things that went on in all of the different states. we still really know because it was turned back it was turned back and all but one state. i think it is just a -- so discord in the american public. we would see it. we had paper backup list. and so on election day if someone came in and said i'm supposed to be on the list. if it happened in any big number we would know it immediately. was there any rhyme or reason to the states. is there something about connecticut. did they have a juicier target in some way. >> no i don't think so.

we are now of course working with the department of homeland security who are the ones that alerted us to this and by the way it is very delicate of course. there is a certain man of security involved in this. we don't want to be announcing exactly what happened in a way because we don't want to encourage others to try it too. most of them being turned away just shows that we all had firewalls. i think this was no different. i don't think it was anything special to those 21 states. they monitor the traffic that goes in and outs of the state. secretary of state. we have the time to join in for the segment. all others can call in.

we will continue this. how much money did connecticut get from that of federal funds. improved election security. and how do you use it. our share is around $5 million. very welcome because we can always improve things. we are using it to bolster our firewalls. we are doing that kind of checks that one does. our biggest concern is at the local level. connecticut is a little unusual. we don't have county systems. so everything is done at the tell mobile mobil we had 169 toads reduced from 200 to 200,000. each of them has a router in their town that is the drop point for this close lipped system that is our voter registry.

what happens when you register to vote you register at the town level. the only people able to put names on. we are worried about the routers in those towns. as the state system is. we want to make sure that the local officials have sufficient training. we are putting in other protections at the local level. such as dual authentication. everyone is logging in properly. because another type of attack. that we have seen in some places in the country are fishing e-mails. and were all familiar with those. the kind of things that you get on your own commuter. a message that looks valid. and looks real. but if you go on it but i

could they could get into our system. we are also purchasing extra tabulator's. the ones that we bought in 2002. they are somewhat elderly. they are not connected to the internet. i just want to make sure that people understand that. the tabulator's had little cards in them. they program the ballots. we want to make sure everything is working properly. either during or after the election. we will have some extras on hand. as we turn to a discussion of secretary of state paul tate

who supervises the administration of elections in the 99 counties. he is also running for reelection this year. he will be on the ballot in iowa. are there any special rules that apply to you. just good common sense. clearly i don't have the opportunity to be politicking or campaigning. they do the actual implementation and operation. in casting of the ballot. our office is just a collection point. my job is to focus on making sure that iowans understand the pathway to be a successful voter and i'm sure they will love the integrity. we have done a series of roundtables across the state which would involve coworkers

and auditors. and other groups who are stakeholders. they have the tools if you will to help us. they have taken all of the necessary steps. just a normal process to make sure that they understand. everybody gets the one vote. reminding them of what an eligible voter is. we have quite a few there. we also had 29 days of early voting. we just make sure that everybody has the information. i will received about $4.8 million from the federal funds how are you using it in your state. >> over 60% of it we are putting right back into the counties in the cyber area and that's a big step.ve

i worked very hard on the state level. in partnering with both the state it people. the home insecurity, the fbi. we want to make sure that i got to the county level as well. we focus the majorityan on that. make sure that they have the sensors. the training and we also partnered to make sure we have the systems installed in the counties before the november election. that was the biggest piece. we had added some staff internally to make sure that we have things like the cyber negative -- navigator. >> explain what an albert sensor is. a it is a system that is there to alert and in our case if any unwanted bad actors are trying to probe or make the

entrance into any of our systems without authorization. and as a pretty crucial step. we've other measures with the internal security measures. we are putting everything that homeland has a recommended in place. >> can you react to that immediately or is it more of a monitoringng so we can understand how to fix it next time? >> it is immediate. an alarm goes off. in our case for the state. we've set it up so we stop it immediately we don't wait for any follow-up. we to say no entrance. the client typically has options. we had addressed that we look for further investigation.

we talked about the 380 some million dollars that the federal government has pushed out. how much of it went to west virginia. we about $2.9 million left over. i would love the site or at the time said it was a loan program over the years. they go to the point while they were violating their state loan program.

give us about six and a half million dollars and buying power. we went to counties and said if you want to match 5050 with us would offer 85% in the county only had to come up with 50%. instead of the state run program we model that after the federal government. they do not put strains on that three and half million dollars they gave to us. we lived uses same principle with the county clerk. we let them determine how to best use their money.

wait about 27 of the clerks that went forward to the equipment. with an equal number that went forward to the cyber security. leach county has her own situations they want to deal with. one of our larger counties design a brand-new breast voting system. they will try that in the general election. the most modern equipment. only about 15% of the state was using this. and then by 202065 percent. we are making progress. we can still use someone from

the federal government but we are putting it to good use as we speak. what does it mean for the number of different kinds of voting machiness in use across west virginia. do you know how many different kinds of machines are crossed esthose counties. it's mainly two. that was what most of the people wanted. the equipment is starting to eat lead the end of its lifespan. we have mainly those three main types. how the people and west virginia are still voting by paper. we won county that does county that does it completely. it's about half-and-half. it's not a great number.

but every one of ours is backed by a paper trail. that's a key component in the election security if it were ever a question a recap that sort of thing. you can go back to a paper ballot. that's what those systems provide us. what is the argument for holding on to the boat by paper. is a more senior county with senior citizens. they've requested it over and over again. i think over time we will get there. with setting up displays and letting people get used to it. the message will be out. she again reiterated that her voters still want to vote by paper.

as the results come in from the house senator and governor races and then wednesday morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern we will get your reaction to the reelection taking your phone calls life during the washington journal. c-span your primary source for campaign 2018. >> present trumbull be on the campaign trail this evening one day ahead of the midterm elections. they will have live coverage starting at about six eastern from fort wayne indiana. and then again at ten eastern. and with just one day to go before the midterm elections c-span is your primary source for campaign 2018. tonight book tv is in prime time with a look at recent books on politics.

they examine the trump administration's policy on civil rights. manhattan institute senior fellow heather mcdonald argues that it's been challenged ethically that level. emory university. they speak at the wisconsin brook festival in madison about the voter suppression. all this week in prime time on c-span two. >> the city to her is exploring the american story. insert cities across the country. during a recent stop we ask voters in the states fifth district which issue is most important to you for this november midterm election. my issue with the election this year basically arm people telling truth and not lying. i get tired of all of the political the political ads on tv. it's like it almost floods you

and you have to decide with what's good and what's bad. it shouldn't be that way. the most important issue for me is not one of the election. but one of those amendments were voting on. for medical marijuana. it is very important because a lot of people have an opioid addiction. and marijuana can help deal with that opioid addiction. my father has a chronic disease. it will end up eventually killing him. either the disease or he no longer has to worry about the opioids killing him. >> for me it would be securing our borders. making sure that we as american citizens have the same security that they are requesting as they come in. they want a better life.

return to help people out. i don't want to be mean but we have to look after ourselves as well. the biggest issue for me as the lack of civility and honesty in support that america has always had as a moral compass that we lost in the last two years. i don't think what we've seen recently with the bomb scare and with everything so much infighting amongst people. i think we have lost our moral country compass as a country. with a profile american cities. join us the first and third weekends of each month as we explore the american story. >> angus king debated