Tabletop exercise prepares officials for election security

The clerks association was joined by multiple state and federal entities, including the FBI, the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, the Elections Division of the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The purpose was to coordinate efforts across local, state and federal agencies to prepare for the 2024 elections, according to a press release from the Secretary of State’s Office on Feb. 26.

The exercise aimed to “expose election officials to realistic scenarios that may occur during an election,” so that strategies could be explored on how to prepare for and respond to such scenarios, the press release states. Topics included “physical security of elections offices, threats to election administration, the proliferation of misinformation and cybersecurity risks.”

Gloves and Narcan

Trotter, who attended the exercise, said it was very informative and that the outcome includes measures that ensure “the security and wellbeing of staff, election worker volunteers and voters are top priority.”

“It is scary to think there are so many bad actors out there that wish to cause harm and/or disruption to people and our democratic process,” she said. “We will be implementing some additional security measures, such as: gloves when handling ballot envelopes, having Narcan on hand, and additional security personnel.”

When asked about why the need to have opioid overdose reversal medication on hand, Trotter said they already have had that in the office for “a year or so.” She said the county had conducted some trainings, after which the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office provided Narcan for the County Clerk’s office. This was not because of anything that happened in the county, but spurred by some national instances, including ones in Washington State in the past General Election. In those, election offices received envelopes with “white, powdery substance.” Trotter said out of the four instances, two tested positive for being fentanyl or other illicit drugs.

Another step that county clerks are imposing since then is wearing gloves. Those and other personal protective equipment were available since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but were “never something we routinely used.” However, officials provided the PPE to election board members who were concerned about COVID.

“This is the first time I’m aware of it being mandatory here in the office,” Trotter said.

She said typically they grab ballots without gloves and begin to go through them. As that is no longer an option, Trotter said, “it will be new for us and probably a hard habit to get into.”

‘Getting too widespread’

She said that there have not been any security issues locally, but noted it was safer to proceed with an abundance of caution.

“Generally we’re good. But, I’m getting more concerned as we go, just listening nationwide and different things happening statewide,” Trotter said. “I think ‘We’re too small’ and then hear different things and think ‘It could be here.’ I don’t like having to think that way,” she said, but noted that election security issues are “getting too widespread.”

As such, she asks herself, “What do I need to be prepared for? How wild are people going to be?”

Trotter says she hopes she is over-preparing and that there won’t be any of those issues here.

Trotter says “anything that is threatening or suspicious will be brought to the attention of local authorities, the State Elections Division and the FBI, as necessary.”

Trotter also has been reminding citizens that Oregon has a closed Primary Election. What that means is all registered voters will get a ballot, but only those registered as a Republican or Democrat will see races for partisan candidates, which includes some local offices and federal offices, such as U.S. President. For example, registered Democrats won’t see Trump on their ballot, but they’ll see the list of Democratic hopefuls and get to decide amongst them. The top vote-getter nationally in Republican and Democrat parties will go on to the ballot, which will be the same for every voter, regardless of political affiliation, for the General Election in November.

Ballots for the May 21 will go out in the mail starting on May 1 and Trotter said voters should expect to start seeing them by about May 3. She noted that ballots are a priority through the U.S. Postal Service.

Military and overseas absentee voter ballots will be mailed on or before April 6 and out-of-state absentee ballots will be mailed on April 22.

The last day for new voters to register to vote in the Oregon Primary election is April 30, which also is the deadline to change party affiliation.

For more information on the election or on how Oregon officials are working to ensure the integrity of elections, visit OregonVotes.gov.