"The drawdown of CISA election resources over the last year has 'been very damaging,' said Aghogho Edevbie, Michigan's deputy secretary of state. 'We had CISA employees and officials work alongside us,' he added, describing that CISA representatives would deploy to places where voting occurred and votes were being counted to conduct security assessments."
"'All of those relationships have been destroyed. We've had instances where our local election officials have been corresponding with members of CISA, and then, all of a sudden, there's no response, because presumably that person has been fired,' Edevbie stated, highlighting the breakdown in communication and support."
"'Unlawful' was how Edevbie described the Justice Department's demand for Michigan's Wayne County to turn over all ballots from the November 2024 election, aligning with other state officials in their concerns about federal overreach."
"'Last year, CISA put much of its election disinformation staff on leave,' indicating a significant reduction in resources dedicated to election security, which has raised alarms among state officials."
Under President Trump's administration, efforts to scale back the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's election security resources have strained relationships with state and local officials. Officials in Michigan and Georgia expressed concerns about reduced preparedness for the upcoming midterms. The drawdown of CISA resources has been described as damaging, with local officials reporting a lack of communication and support. The White House's budget proposal for fiscal year 2027 aims to eliminate CISA's election security program, further impacting state and local election security efforts.
Read at Nextgov.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]