The nation’s voting infrastructure received a clean bill of health today for its 2022 midterm election performance from the government’s top civilian cybersecurity agency, even as the outcome of numerous close election contests remained unknown late into the day after the elections.
While control of the House and Senate remained up in the air – and may continue to be for some time as votes are counted – the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) pronounced the machinery of the voting process to be sound.
“We have seen no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised in any race in the country,” said CISA Director Jen Easterly on Wednesday afternoon.
“Right now, election officials are tabulating votes, reviewing procedures, and testing and auditing equipment as part of the rigorous post-Election Day process that goes into finalizing and certifying the results,” Easterly said.
“It’s important to remember that this thorough and deliberative process can take days or weeks, depending on state laws; these rigorous procedures are why the American people can have confidence in the security and integrity of the election,” the CISA director said.
“We urge everyone to look towards your state and local election officials for the most accurate and up-to-date information about vote counts and to remain patient as election officials continue to do their jobs and carry out the certification process,” she said.
Easterly also thanked election workers for their efforts, saying, “they serve on the front lines of our democracy, and they deserve our support, our admiration, and our respect. CISA is proud to call them partners.”
CISA serves as the sector risk management agency for election infrastructure and has worked extensively with state and local election authorities in recent years to shore up the security of that infrastructure.
