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For Planning Purposes
March 7, 2019
Contact:
SOS Press Office
(916) 653-6575

MEDIA ADVISORY

Secretary of State Alex Padilla to Keynote Election Cybersecurity Discussion at RSA Conference

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – California Secretary of State Alex Padilla will keynote a reception on technology and election system security on the sidelines of the annual RSA Conference in San Francisco on Friday, March 8. The event, hosted by the University of Chicago Harris Cyber Policy Initiative (CPI), marks Secretary Padilla’s first official speaking engagement at the conference since he was first sworn into office in 2015.

The event, which follows Secretary Padilla’s testimony to the February 13 House Homeland Security Committee hearing on cyber vulnerabilities and other critical issues facing state and local elections systems, will include discussion of key cyber threats facing states’ elections systems, current technology designed to mitigate these threats, and opportunities for public-private partnerships.

Secretary Padilla recently initiated a process for upgrading California’s election technology and infrastructure. All California county election officials must implement the necessary upgrades to their voting systems to satisfy the state’s latest testing and certification standards ahead of the March 3, 2020 Presidential Primary Election.

The 2018-2019 state budget included $134.3 million for counties to replace aging voting systems. This was the first significant funding towards voting systems in California in 15 years. The California Legislature also appropriated an unprecedented $3 million to combat misinformation and strengthen cybersecurity by establishing The Offices of Elections Cybersecurity and Enterprise Risk Management within the Secretary of State.

*Media interested in attending should contact Mary Hanley at mhanley@cambridgeglobal.com (312) 533-0346

What:

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla will be joined by state and local election administrators and industry-leading experts for a discussion of the latest cybersecurity challenges facing U.S. elections infrastructure.

Who:

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla
Noah Praetz, former Director of Elections, Cook County, Illinois

When:

Friday, March 8, 2019
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. PST

Where:

W Hotel, San Francisco
181 3rd Street, San Francisco, CA 94103

Contacts:

California Secretary of State:
Sam Mahood (916) 653-6575 or Tamara Raspberry (916) 698-0509

RSA Conference:
Mary Hanley (312) 533-0346 or mhanley@cambridgeglobal.com

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