In March of 2018 Congress passed the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2018 which released $380 million of Help America Vote Act HAVA grant funds to state elections agencies to be used to secure elections On March 30 the Election Assistance Commission EAC sent a letter to the State of Wisconsin Elections Commission WEC announcing Wisconsin’s portion of the election security HAVA grant award of $6 978 318 with a state match of $348 916 for a total of $7 327 234 The funds can be used for purposes such as purchasing hardware and software as well as funding staff positions in relation to the implementation of election security measures In response the WEC has developed a two-phase plan to utilize the new HAVA funds The first phase will involve addressing immediate security needs of the WEC such as purchasing software implementation of security measure into the statewide voter registration system the creation of federally funded staff positions and hiring additional IT developers The second phase involves collecting feedback from Wisconsin election partners such as local election officials and the public to determine long-term election security needs The second phase will also allow for the reservation of some security funding to address future security threats that may develop The WEC will make the match contribution of $348 916 by utilizing existing state general purpose revenue funds to offset the cost of election security activities Ongoing costs that will contribute towards the match include election security salaries and fringe as well as other costs such as IT contractor services local election official training and supplies and services Immediate Security Expenditure Needs While WEC staff takes the time necessary to collect feedback and develop a dynamic plan to spend the new HAVA security funds over the next five years there are some immediate needs that can be anticipated The WEC has identified security measures that can be implemented more immediately in the following program areas Implementation of Multi Factor Authentication One of the priorities that WEC staff has identified for elections security is implementing Multi-Factor Authentication MFA into elections applications MFA would require users of the state election systems to enter a password and then a second factor like a randomly generated number sent by email or on a token when logging in The second factor ensures that even if a user’s password is compromised the malicious actor would not have the second factor needed to gain access The WEC is in the process of incorporating a MFA solution into elections systems which includes training for state system users Additional IT Contractor Positions To implement Wisconsin’s election security plan the WEC is hiring additional contract IT development staff WEC staff is exploring hiring two additional IT contract developers one who can focus on technical implementation of security measures like MFA and another who can focus on quality assurance and IT architecture Both positions will help to ensure the WEC is able to implement security best practices using the new HAVA funds Wisconsin Elections Commission HAVA Elections Security Grant Plan Page 2 Additional Servers and Database Environments The WEC is working closely with state and federal security partners to determine the appropriate system recovery tiers and to create backup duplicate server environments for elections applications Implementation of these measures will incur costs for increased server capacity hardware purchases and infrastructure maintenance and management Additional Security Training for Clerks WEC staff continues to develop in-house interactive training tutorials for municipal clerks on election and cyber security topics These trainings will be incorporated into Wisconsin’s online elections learning center and will be required for new users prior to gaining access to the election management system WEC staff will also be developing inperson cybersecurity events for municipal and county clerks that will incorporate a table top exercise model WEC staff would also like to explore purchasing additional cybersecurity training from federal partners that can be made available to municipal and county clerks Applications Management Software WEC is exploring options to purchase database behavioral analysis configuration management and activity logging software These tools will help to establish baseline activity in the WisVote and related applications and can automate a process to flag unusual activity WEC staff is currently working with elections security partners to determine the best solutions to meet agency needs Creation of IT Project Manager Position WEC would like to create a position to manage the implementation and scheduling of agency IT projects as they relate to elections security With the addition of security IT project implementation into an already aggressive IT development and maintenance schedule it will be critical to have a staff member dedicated to coordinating implementation and testing efforts of agency IT to ensure the WEC is able to meet all security objectives as well as general maintenance of systems Creation of Security Trainer Position With 1 853 local election officials the WEC believes it is also critical to create a position focused on elections security training A dedicated election security trainer will focus on integrating security training into existing training curriculum both at in-person training events and through the online learning center as well as the organization of security training events such as table top exercises Creation of Data Specialist Position It is equally important for the agency to have an adequate number of staff members to monitor the data quality and activity in election systems and applications The WEC will create an additional data specialist position to monitor the activity of election system users conduct follow-up with non-compliant users and monitor and detect erroneous information entered into the system Having a dedicated data specialist helps to ensure anomalies in the election systems are detected mitigated and remedied Creation of Grants Accountant Grants Manager Position Accepting and maintaining federal grant money can be a complicated process Federal funds are subject to strict compliance with federal rules and regulations and are also subject to regular auditing of compliance with those standards Therefore WEC staff would like to explore options to create a position focused on the management Wisconsin Elections Commission HAVA Elections Security Grant Plan Page 3 of federal grant funds Creation of Technical Services Position The WEC believes that it is critical to create a position that is focused on implementing security best practices with agency technology Having a position dedicated to managing the implementation of election security as well as serving as a liaison between WEC and state federal election security partners is critical This position would also serve as the leader of the WEC election security team as well as the main point of contact for collecting feedback and best practices from elections security partners Creation of Voting Equipment Specialist Position WEC staff also believes that the voting equipment elections specialist position is critical to meeting the agency’s developing election security needs This position would focus on working with vendors and clerks to develop and monitor compliance with the certification and testing standards This position would also serve as the lead for exploring options for expanded post-election audit and risk limiting audit processes Second Phase- Collecting Feedback Long Term Needs and Developing Needs While the immediate security needs are being implemented utilizing new HAVA funds it will give the WEC an opportunity to seek input from other key election security partners The next step in developing a comprehensive plan to utilize the new HAVA security funds is for the WEC to create mechanisms to collect feedback from municipalities and counties on how to best use the HAVA funds to secure elections at the state and local level Making sure that counties municipalities and the public have an opportunity to contribute to the election security discussion is paramount to developing a comprehensive security strategy as well as to building public confidence in election integrity As actionable feedback is received the WEC will adapt the spending plan as necessary The WEC has already received some feedback from clerk and public stakeholders This feedback is being logged and analyzed as the WEC considers items for the second phase of the election security plan One of the more prominent items being brought to the WEC’s attention is the expansion of post-election audits The WEC is in the process of researching and conceptualizing ways to expand the current post election audit process for future elections Both local election officials as well as the public have expressed a desire for a mechanism to prove the integrity of elections and election systems in Wisconsin that will increase public confidence in the process The WEC will continue to explore ways to incorporate expanded post-election audit processes into the second phase of election security implementation In addition to the feedback that has already been collected the WEC is developing tools and approaches for soliciting comment from election security partners in a way that can continue to drive decision making for the expenditure of the new funds It is also important that the WEC’s approach to elections security remain flexible and dynamic to incorporate new feedback and resources should be added to the plan as they become available New resources and threats may require WEC to adjust the security approach over the course of the five-year grant WEC staff plans to develop a process to collect feedback that reserves funds that can be used to adapt the plan to new challenges through the entirety of the grant and well in to the future 2018 HAVA ELECTION SECURITY GRANT Budget Information Name of Organization CFDA # 90 404 Non-Construction Program State of Wisconsin Elections Commission Budget Period Start 3 23 2018 Budget Period End SECTION A - BUDGET SUMMARY Consolidated Budget for total project term-up to 5 years as defined by grantee FEDERAL NON-FEDERAL FUNDS Match 3 23 2023 PROGRAM CATEGORIES a Voting Equipment BUDGET CATEGORIES c Voter Registration Systems b Election Auditing d Cyber Security e Communications 1 PERSONNEL including fringe $ f Other ______________ g Other ______________ 2 401 084 00 TOTALS $ % Fed Total 2 401 084 00 34% 2 EQUIPMENT $ - 0% 3 SUBGRANTS- to local voting jurisdictions $ - 0% 4 TRAINING $ 1 000 000 00 $ 1 000 000 00 14% 5 All OTHER COSTS $ 3 577 234 00 $ 3 577 234 00 51% $ 6 978 318 00 $ $ 6 978 318 00 6 TOTAL DIRECT COSTS 1-6 $ - $ - $ - - $ - $ - 7 INDIRECT COSTS if applied 8 Total Federal Budget $ $ - $ - $ - $ 6 978 318 00 $ - $ - $ - 11 Non-Federal Match 12 Total Program Budget 13 Percentage By Category Proposed State Match $ - $ 0% - $ 0% 5 0% A Do you have an Indirect Cost Rate Agreement approved by the Federal government or some other non-federal entity If yes please provide the following information B Period Covered by the Indirect Cost Rate Agreement mm dd yyyy-mm dd yyy C Approving Federal agency D If other than Federal agency please specify E The Indirect Cost Rate is - $ 0% 6 978 318 00 $ 100% - $ 0% - $ 0% 0% - $ 6 978 318 00 $ 348 916 00 $ 7 327 234 00 0%