Enhancing Election Security

The security of our elections is a profound national security interest. In a six-month period in 2023, the Office of the Secretary of State faced 1.7 million cyber-attacks. Intrusion detection systems used nationwide by federal, state and local governments have repeatedly detected potential threats to government computer networks.

These threats warrant substantial and sustained investments:

• We must support funding for research and development into next-generation election technologies, cyber defenses, and voter data protections.

• We must continue to invest in defense-in-depth tools like Albert sensors, which passively monitor for malicious activity that harm normal operations.

• We must place an intentional focus on cybersecurity. With bipartisan support from state lawmakers, I have built a team of cybersecurity analysts to lead this work in identifying and protecting our systems from known and emerging threats.

• I have increased our work with our federal and state experts to increase the physical security of our state and county offices.

Along with secretaries of state across the country, I have worked to bring more states into the Electronic Registration Information Center, which increases electoral integrity by improving the accuracy of voter rolls and outreach to more eligible voters.

Advancements in 2024

Security of Election Workers

First, we are protecting election workers as best we can. Rep. Mari Leavitt’s legislation making threats or harassment of election workers a Class C felony was signed into law in 2024. The entire professional community of election workers is grateful for her leadership and the support of the Legislature. It took a multi-year effort to pass this bill. 

Election Security

Thanks to my request legislation that was signed in 2024, counties must immediately disclose to the Secretary of State and Attorney General any breach of systems that may have compromised the security, confidentiality, or integrity of an election, or personal information may have been acquired by an unauthorized person.

It requires that every county must install and maintain an intrusion detection system that passively monitors its network for malicious traffic. By doing so, the county will have access to a qualified and trained security team with access to cyber incident response personnel who can assist the county in the event of a malicious attack.

Finally, the secretary of state now has the ability to certify county election results if a county canvassing board refuses because they do not like the results despite the process being accurate and transparent. As a reminder, the county canvassing board consists of their auditor, the chair of the county commission or their appointee, and the county prosecutor. In Arizona recently, two canvassing boards refused to certify results without cause, which impacts the entire election for multi-county, statewide or federal races.

Security through Collaboration

I have also convened classified and unclassified briefings by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency for state legislative leaders, both major state political parties, and local election officials. Success for each level of government requires extensive communication and deep collaboration. 

Building Voter Confidence

The Office of the Secretary of State has increased public information campaigns so the public has access to trusted information about how our elections work and how to participate. I also encourage Washington residents to contact their county auditor to observe ballot processing. Trust can be built and the effectiveness of election disinformation can be reduced significantly by simply observing the process.

A fun, if potentially expensive, example of this can be found in Nick Gibson’s reporting in The Spokesman-Review about a couple from Cheney that asked for a precinct to be recounted under their observation: Cheney man pays for recount of single precinct’s school district votes to ensure system working properly. After the recount, the gentleman said “he was reassured to learn the system was working as it should.” And what a great date night!

Artificial Intelligence

In 2023, my request legislation about artificial intelligence (AI) was signed into law. Advertisements using AI must now disclose that use of AI for imagery, video, audio, etc. I would like to pass stronger legislation, but social media companies – as content publishers – have effective lobbyists and a financial disincentive to limit AI-driven election misinformation that results in shares, likes and dislikes, or retweets and retruths.

Responsibility of Social Media Companies

In 2024, I wrote a letter with other secretaries of state to Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg seeking a reversal of the company’s policy that permits advertisements claiming the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Donald Trump’s Big Lie opened a Pandora’s box of distrust in our elections that has eroded faith in the founding principles of our democracy, and unleashed a tidal wave of voter suppression laws, and even insider threats to our elections. Meta’s policy will only serve to further distrust in our elections, adding fuel to a growing fire of threats of political violence and ongoing harassment of election officials and workers across the country.

Real-World Consequences of Election Disinformation

Enemies of democracy use disinformation as a tool to erode public trust and negatively influence civic discourse. We’ve seen persistent false information led to violent breaches the U.S. Capitol and Washington State Capitol Campus on Jan. 6, 2021. Deceptive tactics must be overcome with proactive strategies; simply reacting to these harmful narratives is simply not good enough. We must build voter confidence by correcting disinformation, anticipating emerging narratives, and continually sharing trusted information about our secure election processes. We have created additional cybersecurity and messaging capabilities with the funding of a new Information Security and Response division in the Office of the Secretary of State.

Election disinformation has real-world consequences. Another disinformation campaign had the practical result of a few counties disarming an important cybersecurity tool (NPR: Some Republicans in Washington state cast a wary eye on an election security device). To address this, I went to the legislature to require the use of an intrusion detection system, because a vulnerability in any county represents a vulnerability across the state.

Federal Crimes

The U.S. Department of Justice has the ability to prosecute crimes, such as when disinformation prevents qualified voters from getting to the polls in a federal election. 

Voting Rights and Access

I am the son of an Asian immigrant. I am the first Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) secretary of state nationwide and the first secretary of state of color in Washington’s history. I come from a community in need of greater assistance accessing the ballot, one that receives threats of violence just for exercising their sacred right to vote.

Vote-by-Mail

We must be vigilant in supporting and engaging our historically underrepresented populations. Voting rights are threatened by extreme legislation—like ending vote by mail—that would roll back their ballot access. Comment sections on stories about elections are often rife with demands to return to exclusively same-day, in-person voting in Washington state. As of April 2024, it is also now a part of the Washington State Republican Party Platform, where they advocate for: "Same-day in-person voting at precinct level with photo ID." Not only is that counter to the desire of the majority of Washington voters, but it would bring back the days of long lines at polling places and result in disenfranchisement to unprivileged communities.

Voter Information in More Languages

The prevalence of languages other than English spoken in Washington communities is increasing. We must strive to provide more resources in voters’ native languages. We must proactively provide election communication in more languages than is currently required under federal law, and we must provide counties with the resources to ensure this is accomplished quickly. I am proposing state support that would allow voter guides and other election information to be translated into more languages, even when the prevalence has not reached the mandatory federal thresholds.

Text Message Ballot Updates

In 2023, I engaged with counties across the state to offer text message updates to voters, letting them know when a ballot has been sent, received, and accepted or rejected. This provides peace of mind to most, and to the few voters whose ballots are rejected, it gives them ample notification to cure those ballots with their county so their ballot is accepted and their vote counted.

Advisory Vote and Initiative Reform

For too long, prominent voter guide and ballot space has been wasted on unnecessary and unenforceable advisory votes. I was thrilled to work on SB 5082, sponsored by Sen. Patty Kuderer of Bellevue, that abolished advisory votes. Advisory votes wasted public money, ballot space, and voters’ time, all to ask people to make decisions that had no consequences. Getting rid of them was long overdue. To improve transparency of government, the Voter Guide now directs readers to expanded online resources and financial information about their government.

In 2024, I announced an inflation-indexed change to the filing fee for Initiatives to the Legislature and Initiatives to the People, from $5 to $156. The overdue adjustment recognizes the reality of inflation on cost structures universally. The expenses generated in multiple state agencies for processing each and every filing of a potential ballot measure are not what they were in 1913, and our fee structure must reflect that. The participatory democracy of filing ballot measures is an important facet of our state government’s structure, but keeping the fee artificially low has problematic ripple effects. Many more ballot measures are filed now and never seriously pursued. The outdated fee structure may have made that a low-cost exercise for the filers. At the same time, receiving hundreds of filings that don’t cover their own costs has driven government expenses upward.

As was noted by The Daily Herald editorial board: “As recently as 2015, some of those folks — let’s call them the League of Initiative Frequent Filers — have capitalized on the low fee in order to file multiple versions of the same proposal with only minor changes, with the hopes of getting assigned a “catchy” initiative number or ballot title.

“Tim Eyman, in past years among the league’s more prolific initiative backers, filed some 86 initiatives in 2016, only to withdraw 61 of them later. But that year, Eyman was late in announcing his withdrawal of one initiative that had made it as far as review by a Thurston County Superior Court judge, regarding a challenge by Eyman of the measure’s wording. The judge, the morning of the hearing, spent up to two hours reviewing briefs, only to learn moments before the hearing that the initiative had been withdrawn.

“The judge fined Eyman $600 for the oversight.”

Making Registration More Accessible for Eligible Voters

A measure requested by Secretary Hobbs that was passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor allows for online voter registration with the last four digits of a Social Security number instead of a driver’s license or state ID number. The inability to do this represented a barrier to voter registration for eligible voters, particularly impacting those less likely to have a driver’s license.

The office has also reached out to younger voters with a presence at community expos including PAX West and Emerald City Comic Con, registering eligible voters, providing information to support Washingtonians trying to start a business or nonprofit, sharing how Washingtonians can access archives and library services, or even recruiting for open positions at the 350-person strong Office of the Secretary of State. 

This is the first step in that partnership and investment in our public libraries.

Expanding Access to State Library

I am also actively working with the Department of Corrections and Department of Children, Youth, and Families to expand access to libraries in our state correctional facilities. Libraries are currently located at nine adult correctional facilities, two psychiatric hospitals, and in 2022 we opened the first library in a state juvenile correction center. I look forward to expanding that work.

Preserving and Sharing Washington Heritage

The Office of the Secretary of State oversees the Washington State Library and the State Archives—and some of the most unique collections of history and heritage in existence. Washington is a remarkable state with extraordinary people—and every Washingtonian has a story to tell. More than preserving our history, we must share the story of Washington with researchers, students, and visitors everywhere.

The State Archives and the State Library are home to one-of-a-kind records and uniquely northwest collections. The current facilities housing these collections are woefully inadequate and putting these collections at risk. We are leading the way to begin construction of a state-of-the-art, 120,000 square foot facility in nearby Tumwater that will house those collections safely and provide much greater access to you. Relocating our collections to safe facilities and sharing these collections with visitors from a single location is an effort supported by the past four Secretaries of State, who each recognize the vital importance of protecting these holdings for future generations.

Through the Washington State Archives and ALL Foundation of Washington, we are bringing Washington history to the people. Books and exhibits have been published recently on the journey to marriage equality in Washington and the groundbreaking Boldt Decision. It is imperative that these stories exist outside of the stacks and are presented to the people of Washington so they can understand and explore key parts of Washington history.

Supporting Washington Businesses and Nonprofits

The Secretary of State is Washington’s chief corporations' officer and provides essential information about businesses and charities in Washington to promote public trust.

Expanding Customer Service

To improve these important services, I am leading expansion of in-person resources in Olympia to more locations across the state. This includes opening a satellite office in Spokane County this fall and mobile, pop-up services where they are most frequently needed, such as universities, community colleges, community-led events, and in Seattle at our Washington Talking Book & Braille Library. These expanded resources will allow teams to meet customers where they are and partner with local chambers of commerce and economic development organizations to encourage and support business.

Recognizing the need to modernize our state services, I am overseeing a reorganization of the Corporations & Charities Division that increases the technical ability of the team, and adds an Education and Engagement Team that will reach underserved communities and help them gain access to the full range of services provided by this office. That team can also help connect those business owners with other state agencies they will need to interface with.

Following sweeping state legislation in 2021 that required more robust reporting for charities and nonprofits, the Corporations and Charities Division at the Office of the Secretary of State completed legislatively-mandated updates to the online filing resource that will makes filing for charities quicker, easier, and more efficient.

Modern and Accessible Services

We are also participating in a groundbreaking pilot for electronic Apostilles that would represent a game-change in the system for internationally recognized authentication services.

Supporting International Trade for Washington Businesses

In 2023 and 2024, economic trade missions to Japan served to build relationships in some strong and growing industries in Washington, including aerospace and gaming, both tabletop and digital. Trips bring aerospace and gaming leaders together, and are designed to help secure sales for those Washington businesses. 

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