A Conversation with SICPA CMO Karen Gardner about Election Security

In the wake of the 2020 national election, what is on the minds of election officials that you speak to throughout the country?

I think that one of the big lessons of 2020 is that the rise of misinformation has placed the burden of demonstrating the integrity of our elections overwhelmingly on local election officials, even if there is no real proof that something went wrong. Our elections are the foundation of our democracy, and we all share the goal of doing everything we can to keep that trust from eroding further than it already has. 

What I hear from election officials nationwide is that they need to demonstrate the integrity of their systems in real time is key to bringing the public along with them through every stage of the election process. Giving election officials the tools they need to architect and maintain trust with voters throughout the life cycle of an election is where we’re currently focusing our efforts and innovation in this space. 

What are the different stages of the election “life cycle” that can benefit from these types of solutions?

Providing auditability around voter registries, physical ballot marking, and vote tabulation are the three critical links in the voting process where we see the greatest utility in deploying our solutions. With the right solutions in place, we can demonstrate to voters that our voter registries are secure and have not been compromised in any way prior to an election, that the physical ballots that voters use are authentic, and that the tabulation of votes published is accurate and has not been manipulated in any way. 

Election officials do a remarkable job with minimal resources keeping our elections safe. We provide a backstop that allows them to demonstrate the integrity of their systems at every step of the process. We also have the ability to partner closely with the companies that make the actual voting systems to provide similar solutions that can be integrated directly into the machines and ballots that are purchased by state and local governments. 

Can you provide some detail on the technology behind these solutions?

SICPA has a number of different solutions that we can utilize to provide auditability in the different election processes that I’ve laid out. 

For voter registries, we use blockchain technology that catalogs any and all changes made to voter data in the registry in a distributed ledger so that election officials can monitor those changes and confirm that they were all authorized. The digital footprint left by any changes to the registry would allow officials to flag any unauthorized changes in real time, and be a backstop against any public concerns that a voter registry could have been compromised. 

For physical ballots, SICPA utilizes its secure ink and forensic taggants that it uses for identity documents and currencies to mark ballots and allow election officials to verify in real time whether a ballot is authentic, or if a fraudulent ballot inserted in the process. This is particularly useful to support a strong chain of custody for ballot materials and for the ballots ultimately cast whether in person or by mail.  

Lastly, we also have the capability of using SICPA’s solutions to digitally sign the final voter tabulations shared with the media and the public at various points in the reporting process to make it easy to verify the legitimacy of the data being used in the market to prevent any data modification or disinformation.

How are SICPA solutions being used by election officials in the United States?

Yes. SICPA has partnered with several jurisdictions in California and Vermont on pilot programs  in the context of both ballot verification and voter registry protection. We expect additional programs to come online in 2021. We are eager to engage with election officials and election infrastructure companies to explore additional pilot programs and the many ways we can partner together to provide an additional layer of security and maintain trust with the communities we serve. To reach out, you can email me at Karen.Gardner@sicpa.com -- I’d love to hear from you!