U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen Statement on President Trump’s Election Security Executive Order




(September 13, 2018) - - Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen M. Nielsen released the following statement today on President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order, Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States Election:

“Today’s Executive Order demonstrates the Administration’s continued commitment to securing our nation’s election infrastructure. As I have said on numerous occasions, election security is national security and any attempt to interfere in our democratic institutions is unacceptable. By mandating the imposition of sanctions against any individual or entity that seeks to interfere in our elections, we are sending a clear signal that the U.S. government will not tolerate interference of any kind and will use every tool at our disposal to protect our democratic process.

“We do not need to wait for another interference attempt to know the threat is real and evolving. DHS is already working closely with state and local election officials to ensure all Americans have confidence in our elections. Election officials in all 50 states and over 1,000 local jurisdictions are now working with DHS in some capacity to secure their election systems. We’re focusing on providing actionable information and intelligence to election officials; providing technical assistance to secure systems; and supporting election-focused incident response planning, training, and exercises.

“Securing our elections requires support across the government and our communities, and DHS will continue to lead the federal effort to ensure every American’s vote is counted and counted correctly.”



Credit: U.S. Department of Homeland Security