MEDIA ADVISORY: National Pre-Election Program Wednesday
On Wednesday, October 28, 2020, the USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative will present a summary and final pre-election update of election cybersecurity measures that have been presented in each of the 50 states, offering up-to-the-minute resources to campaigns, election workers, elected officials, academics, media and concerned citizens to reinforce election cybersecurity.
Contact: Tiffany Shackelford (703) 470-2996 or tshackel@usc.edu; Emily Gersema, (213) 740-6973 or gersema@usc.edu; or Ted Kissell, (714) 316-8808 or tkissell@usc.edu
Securing U.S. elections and maintaining confidence in American democracy will be the topics discussed by experts including Vint Cerf, “Father of the Internet,” and elected and appointed officials including U.S. Senators and election officials from around the country, including Maggie Toulouse Oliver, New Mexico Secretary of State and President of the National Association of Secretaries of State.
With a welcome by USC President Carol L. Folt, USC experts participating will include USC Deans, professors and an expert on disinformation in the age of the pandemic. The program will also feature cybersecurity experts from universities throughout the U.S. that were partners in the state election cybersecurity workshops.
The USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative, supported by a generous gift from Google, is an independent, bipartisan effort to strengthen election cybersecurity through workshops that were held for each of the 50 states. Across the U.S. workshops included hundreds of state and local officials as speakers and panelists and dozens of state university partners, reaching a total of 4,000 participants. Our national media partner for the 50-state initiative is the Associated Press, and our partner for Wednesday’s program will be The Washington Post.
“On Wednesday we will present the best of what we heard visiting all 50 states, both in person and virtually, including best practices for those in campaigns and elections,” said Adam Clayton Powell III, executive director of the project. “We are a national campaign, and our candidate is democracy.”
“In advance of the 2020 election, we are committed to enhancing election security for voters, campaigns and journalists alike,” said Kristie Canegallo, vice president of Google’s Trust and Safety team. “We’re proud to support USC’s Election Security and Information Project to provide comprehensive training to candidates, campaigns, academics, elected officials, and NGOs to help them prepare for security challenges before the 2020 election.”
WHAT: USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative. National 50-state pre-election cybersecurity summary and update
WHO: Experts speaking include:
- Vinton G. Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google
- Carol L. Folt, President, University of Southern California
- Amber D. Miller, Dean of the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
- Yannis C. Yortsos, Dean of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering
- Cory Booker, United States Senator, New Jersey
- Rob Portman, United States Senator, Ohio
- Larry Hogan, Governor of Maryland
- Maggie Toulouse Oliver, New Mexico Secretary of State, and President of the National Association of Secretaries of State
- Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary of State
- Frank LaRose, Ohio Secretary of State
- Justin Lee, Utah Director of Elections
- Thomas Hicks, Election Assistance Commissioner; Former Chair, Election Assistance Commission
- Matt Masterson, Senior Advisor on Elections, Department of Homeland Security
- Geoffrey Cowan, Principal Investigator, USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative
- Clifford Neuman, Director, USC Center for Computer Systems Security; Senior Project Leader, USC Information Sciences Institute; and Associate Research Professor of Computer Science, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
- Sarah Mojarad, Lecturer, USC Viterbi School of Engineering
- Adam Clayton Powell III, Executive Director, USC Election Cybersecurity Initiative, and former USC Vice Provost
WHERE: Zoom Event. You will receive credentials upon registration.
WHEN: Wednesday, October 28, 2020 1:30 – 4:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time
REGISTRATION: To attend, register here: https://usc50states.eventbrite.com
MORE INFORMATION: The initiative is led by the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, established by University Professor Geoffrey Cowan, who is the principal investigator for the USC Elections Cybersecurity Initiative. For more background on CCLP, please visit its website.