OPINION: Teamwork helps build Idaho’s election security

This editorial was published in the Coeur d’Alene Press.

———

Idaho is awash in one primary political color, so outside the Boise area, Republicans will hardly be challenged from top of ballot on down.

Now, if the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz ticket wins in a Gem State landslide, then call in the investigators.

But that’s not going to happen, and not just because Republicans outnumber Democrats and unaffiliated voters by almost a 2-to-1 margin. Idaho possesses one of the best, most secure and confidence-earning voting systems in the nation.

“We’ve done a lot of work over the last 20 years — but in particular over the last four years — to continue to build the infrastructure of the system that we have so that Idahoans, when they head to the polls, can have absolute confidence that their vote will count and that nobody is tampering with the systems that we have here in our state,” Secretary of State Phil McGrane said recently as he toured the state, including Coeur d’Alene on Oct. 1.

That infrastructure, according to an article at IdahoCapitalSun.com (shorturl.at/XPcKt), is further bolstered by the nation’s cyber defense arm, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. CISA was formed in 2018 after Russia’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, providing state and local governments no-cost cybersecurity support — assessments and training — ahead of elections.

CISA Director Jen Easterly cited Russia, Iran and China as the adversaries most intent on trying to weaken the U.S. through election interference.

“We know (they) are very intent on doing two things: undermining American confidence in the security of our election and in our democracy, and trying to stoke partisan rancor and discord,” she said.

Sound familiar?

McGrane noted that the American system of every state conducting its own elections helps thwart outside interference attempts, and Easterly added that our diverse systems used to cast votes aren’t connected to the internet, creating another steep challenge for interferers to hurdle.

Keep in mind that the federal government doesn’t conduct elections — that’s done only at local and state levels — so skeptics can’t blame Uncle Sam for manipulating processes or results.

With Idaho elections safe and secure, beware anyone trying to cast doubt on ballot counts. Such claims will only support the conclusion that the war against malignant interests, from without and within, is not over.