Protect 2020 Strategic Plan

In January 2017, DHS designated the infrastructure used to administer the Nation’s elections as critical infrastructure. This designation recognizes that the United States’ election infrastructure is of such vital importance to the American way of life that its incapacitation or destruction would have a devastating effect on the country. It gave federal agencies authority to assist in election security, but strictly in a supporting role. Under the Constitution, the responsibility for carrying out elections rests with state and local officials.

The President directed DHS to lead federal efforts to protect election infrastructure. DHS provides voluntary assistance and support to state and local officials in the form of advice, intelligence, technical support, and incident response planning—with the ultimate goal of building a more resilient, redundant, and secure election enterprise.

During the 2018 midterm Election cycle, DHS established the Election Task Force (ETF) and the Countering Foreign Influence Task Force (CFITF) to coordinate federal support to the election community. ETF and CFITF have now been institutionalized as the Election Security Initiative (ESI) within CISA. CISA works in coordination with various federal partners, such as DHS’ Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as well as non-federal election stakeholders.