The federal agency that oversees the security of election systems was largely absent from planning before elections this month in several states.
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Next photo FILE - A sheriff's deputy inspects ballots with the aid of a dog at the L.A. County Ballot Processing Center Nov. 4, 2025, in City of Industry, Calif. FILE - A spot that had been reserved for a representative of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency sits vacant at a meeting of the National Association of State Election Directors in Washington, Feb. 2, 2025. FILE - Voters cast their ballots on the UCLA campus Nov. 4, 2025, in Los Angeles. FILE - A sheriff's deputy inspects ballots with the aid of a dog at the L.A. County Ballot Processing Center Nov. 4, 2025, in City of Industry, Calif. warn state and local election officials about potential threats from foreign governments, showed officials how to protect polling places from attacks and gamed out how to respond to the unexpected, such as an Election DayThe agency was largely absent from that space for elections this month in several states, a potential preview for the 2026 midterms.Some officials say they have begun scrambling to fill the anticipated gaps. “We do not have a sense of whether we can rely on CISA for these services as we approach a big election year in 2026,” said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat who until recently led the bipartisan National Association of Secretaries of State.to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in February asking her to preserve the cybersecurity agency's core election functions. Noem, whose department oversees the agency, has yet to reply.under the first Trump administration to help safeguard the nation's critical infrastructure, from dams and power plants to election systems. It has been undergoingPublic records suggest that roughly 1,000 CISA employees have lost their jobs over the past years. The Republican administration in MarchThat was a few weeks after CISA announced it was conducting a review of its election-related work, and more than a dozen staffers who have worked on electionsCISA officials did not answer questions seeking specifics about the agency's role in the recently completed elections, its plans for the 2026 election cycle or staffing levels. They said the agency remains ready to help protect election infrastructure. “Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, CISA is laser-focused on securing America’s critical infrastructure and strengthening cyber resilience across the government and industry,” said Marci McCarthy, CISA's director of public affairs.Christine Serrano Glassner, CISA’s chief external affairs officer, said the agency's experts are ready to provide election guidance if asked. "In the event of disruptions or threats to critical infrastructure, whether Election Day-related or not, CISA swiftly coordinates with the Office of Emergency Management and the appropriate federal, state and local authorities,” she said in a statement.California's top election security agencies said CISA has played a “critical role" since 2018 but provided little, if any, help for the state's Nov. 4 special election, when “Over the past year, CISA’s capacity to support elections has been significantly diminished," the California secretary of state’s office said in a statement to The Associated Press."The agency has experienced major reductions in staffing, funding, and mission focus — including the elimination of personnel dedicated specifically to election security and foreign influence mitigation.” “This shift has left election officials nationwide without the critical federal partnership they have relied on for several election cycles,” according to the office. CISA alerted California officials in September that it would no longer participate in a task force that brought together federal, state and local agencies to support county election offices. California election officials and the governor’s Office of Emergency Services did what they could to fill the gaps and plan for various security scenarios. In Orange County, California, the registrar of voters, Bob Page, said in an email that the state offices and other county departments “stepped up” to support his office “to fill the void left by CISA’s absence.” Neighboring Los Angeles County had a different experience. The registrar's office, which oversees elections, said it continues to get a range of cybersecurity services from CISA, including threat intelligence, network monitoring and security testing of its equipment, although local jurisdictions now have to cover the costs of some services that had been federally funded.Mississippi's secretary of state, who heads the national association that sent the letter to Noem, did not directly respond to a request for comment, but his office confirmed that CISA was not involved in the state’s recent elections. In Pennsylvania, which held a nationally watched retention election for three state Supreme Court justices, the Department of State said it is also relied more on its own partners to ensure the elections were secure. In an email, the department said it was “relying much less on CISA than it had in recent years.” Instead, it has begun collaborating with the state police, the state's own homeland security department, local cybersecurity experts and other agencies.Simon, the former head of the secretary of state's association, said state and local election officials need answers about CISA’s plans because officials will have to seek alternatives if the services it had been providing will not be available next year. In some cases, such as classified intelligence briefings, there are no alternatives to the federal government, he said. But there might be ways to get other services, such as testing of election equipment to see if it can be penetrated from outside. In past election years, CISA also would conduct tabletop exercises with local agencies and election offices to game out various scenarios that might affecting voting or ballot counting, and how they would react. Simon said that is something CISA was very good at. “We are starting to assume that some of those services are not going to be available to us, and we are looking elsewhere to fill that void,” Simon said.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Houston sets records for warm days in November!What weather we can expect for Thanksgiving week!Southwest Houston caught in citywide trash backlogHouston animal rescue asks for temporary Thanksgiving fosters to help ease overcrowdingRain returns: Wednesday weather update for the remainder of the weekHere's how the new flu vaccines are made every year!Rain chances ramp up for the weekend in HoustonDrought expanding in Houston and SE TexasTariffs driving up prices on Christmas trees, decor, lights. 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