Funding enables the Office of the Secretary of State to strengthen election security, fight election disinformation, enhance voter education, and preserve vital state records and archives
OLYMPIA — The 2022 state budget, awaiting Governor Inslee’s signature, enables the Office of the Secretary of State (OSOS) to strengthen election security, counter misleading and harmful election disinformation, and enhance voter education.
“Election security and voter education are my top priorities,” said Secretary of State Steve Hobbs. “I thank the state Legislature for its bipartisan support of these critical efforts to ensure more secure and accessible elections.”
Key to enhancing voter education and fighting disinformation is strengthening election security. The 2022 state budget expands the OSOS’s Security Operations Center (SOC) to further protect Washington’s elections infrastructure and provide security services at the state and county levels of election administration.
Among its responsibilities, the SOC ensures the security and integrity of Washington’s online election information system (VoteWA.gov); provides system monitoring, training, and security-based outreach for state and county election administrators; and partners with private and public-sector entities — including the Washington National Guard — to enhance cyber protections and increase cyber training and information-sharing.
“We are upping our game to defend our elections from more frequent and sophisticated attacks on the fundamental tools of our democracy,” said Secretary Hobbs. “We are expanding our Security Operations Center to strengthen our essential training and partnerships with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Washington State Military Department, and our Air National Guard cyber terrorism experts.”
State funding will help implement critical security controls and deploy cybersecurity tools to further protect VoteWA software and hardware; expand and enhance onsite county election security reviews and disseminate cybersecurity information and potential vulnerabilities to all 39 counties; and explore leveraging the cloud for resiliency and to prepare VoteWA for the future.
Additionally, a focused election information response center will proactively share important information about our secure elections, monitor the information environment year-round, identify and mitigate emerging false narratives, and correct the record by countering malign actors with facts.
“To this day, false narratives about the 2020 election still question and doubt the integrity, security, and accuracy of our elections,” Secretary Hobbs said. “This year’s budget enables us to keep pace with and counter the deluge of false narratives.”
Expanded voter outreach and education are essential to increasing voter participation, and empowering citizens to better understand the election process, learn more about the candidates and issues, and make their voices heard.
“As Washington’s chief elections officer, I am committed to working closely with our county election partners to ensure all eligible voters are able to access their ballots and exercise their right to vote,” said Secretary Hobbs. “Critical to this effort is a more robust voter-education program, especially for young voters, voters with disabilities, non-English-speaking voters, new state residents, and voters in tribal and underserved communities.”
This includes resources unique to each community to raise awareness of voter services and information, a greater presence at naturalization ceremonies and community events, and accurate translation services to ensure voters understand their ballots and the voting process.
Protecting Washington history
Strengthening Washington State Archives’ and Washington State Library’s capacity and ability to store and share state documents and other records is fundamental to preserving Washington’s history. New state funding will help these divisions — and other OSOS functions — prepare their transition to a new Library-Archives Building in Tumwater that will serve as a one-stop resource for archivists, researchers, students, and many more to discover and research state history.
Also, both divisions will further their work in digitizing millions of historical, governmental, legal, and other records and making them available to the general public, which helps promote government transparency and accountability for all Washingtonians.
“What an honor to preserve and share our state’s rich and diverse history; our State Library and State Archives divisions bring the story of Washington to life for millions every day,” said Secretary Hobbs. “This history helps us understand ourselves, each other, and our communities. It is the foundation in shaping Washington’s future.”
Washington’s Office of the Secretary of State oversees a number of areas within state government, including managing state elections, registering corporations and charities, and governing the use of the state flag and state seal. The office also manages the State Archives and the State Library, documents extraordinary stories in Washington’s history through Legacy Washington, oversees the Combined Fund Drive for charitable giving by state employees, and administers the state’s Address Confidentiality Program to help protect survivors of crime.