Election Security and Planning Flashcards

An election administrator is developing a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) for a primary election. A severe thunderstorm is forecast for Election Day, which could lead to power outages at multiple polling locations. Which of the following is the MOST critical component to include in the COOP for this specific threat?

Answer: A plan for deploying emergency paper ballots and establishing secure manual voting procedures.

While all options are valuable components of a comprehensive COOP, a power outage directly impacts the functionality of electronic voting machines and e-poll books. Having a clear plan for emergency paper ballots and secure manual procedures is the most critical and direct response to ensure voting can continue without interruption or disenfranchisement.

Which of the following is a primary objective of implementing a strict chain of custody for all election materials?

Answer: To provide a transparent and auditable trail that ensures materials have not been tampered with.

The fundamental purpose of chain of custody is to document every person who handles election materials, from ballots to voting machines, creating a verifiable record. This ensures the integrity of the materials by demonstrating they have been secure and accounted for at every stage, which is crucial for transparency and post-election audits.

When conducting a physical security assessment of a potential polling place, which factor is of highest importance?

Answer: The ability to secure voting equipment and ballots from unauthorized access.

The paramount concern in a physical security assessment is ensuring the integrity and security of the election process. This involves controlling access to sensitive materials like ballots and voting equipment to prevent tampering, theft, or any form of unauthorized interference. While other factors contribute to a well-run polling place, security is the top priority.

A local election office discovers its voter registration database has been compromised by a ransomware attack two weeks before an election. According to cybersecurity best practices, what is the most critical immediate step in their incident response plan?

Answer: Isolate the affected systems from the network and activate the backup and recovery plan.

The first priority in a cyber incident like a ransomware attack is to contain the threat by isolating affected systems to prevent further spread. The next step is to activate the recovery plan, which should include restoring data from secure, pre-existing backups. This approach avoids rewarding attackers and focuses on restoring operations securely and independently.

Which of the following security measures is most effective for preventing unauthorized access to a centralized voter registration system by election staff?

Answer: Implementing role-based access control with multi-factor authentication.

While training, firewalls, and backups are all important security layers, role-based access control (RBAC) combined with multi-factor authentication (MFA) is the most direct and effective control. RBAC ensures users can only access the information and functions necessary for their specific jobs (the principle of least privilege), and MFA adds a critical layer of identity verification beyond just a password.

During early voting, a water pipe bursts at an early voting center, causing significant flooding and making the location unusable. The contingency plan calls for relocating the center. What is the election administrator's most important immediate responsibility in this scenario?

Answer: Securing all ballots and voting equipment and executing the chain of custody protocol for relocation.

In an emergency requiring the relocation of a polling place, the election administrator's first and most critical responsibility is to maintain the integrity of the election. This means immediately securing all official ballots, voting systems, and other sensitive materials and ensuring a proper, documented chain of custody is followed as they are moved to the alternate site.