Election officials say trust with CISA is broken — maybe permanently

VotebeatisanonprofitnewsorganizationreportingonvotingaccessandelectionadministrationacrosstheU.S.Signupforourfreeweeklynewslettertogetthelatest. WhentheU.S.DepartmentofHomelandSecurityfirstdeclaredinJanuary2017thatelectionsystemswere“criticalinfrastructure,”alarmedstateelectionofficialspushedbackquicklyandloudly,fearingthemovecouldleadtoafederaltakeoverofelections. DHS’sdesignationcameduringthefinaldaysoftheObamaadministration,asfederalofficialsscrambledtorespondtoevidenceofRussianinterferencewiththe2016election. DeniseMerrill,aConnecticutDemocratwhowasthenpresidentoftheNationalAssociationofSecretariesofState,helpedleadtheopposition. “TheU.S.DepartmentofHomelandSecurityhasnoauthoritytointerferewithelections,eveninthenameofnationalsecurity,”NASSsaidinaFebruary2017bipartisanresolutionurgingthenewadministrationtorescindthedesignation. Butthedesignationstuckand,Merrillsaid,somethingunexpectedhappened.AsPresidentDo