Hacking the U.S. Election

This event was livestreamed by CSPAN. Watch the day’s events: here; here; and here.

Free and fair elections are essential to a thriving democracy. But as we approach the pivotal 2020 election, we see the integrity of U.S. elections facing multi-pronged threats. What are the main threats, and what can be done?

Sponsored by Penn State Dickinson Law, The Center for Democracy & Technology, Penn State Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, and the Brennan Center for Justice, and with assistance from The Honorable Thomas Ridge, First Secretary of U.S. Department of Homeland Security and 43rd Governor, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Congressman Fred Keller, this Symposium brings together leading federal lawmakers, state election officials, Congressional staffers, researchers, members of the intelligence communities, academics, and media to address the two primary threats to the U.S. elections:

1. Election Security—vulnerabilities in our election system infrastructure that enable susceptibility to cyber hacking.
2. Social engineering—intentional efforts to effect U.S. election results, erode confidence in the electoral process, and undermine the stability of our democracy through targeted propaganda, disinformation, and online manipulation.

This Symposium is aimed at promoting bipartisan legislative efforts and supporting the work of state election officials, researchers, and the intelligence community to detect and combat these attacks on our electoral process. Join us as we work to find real solutions to stop the hacking of U.S. elections.