The Knox County Board of Elections, 104 E Sugar St., has a contact-free information area in the lobby available between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
MOUNT VERNON – Aware of the damage even a small piece of misinformation can have on the elections process, Knox County’s IT department is beefing up security for the board of election’s website and social media accounts.
The goal is to ensure that every bit of information on the website is correct, and specifically that all election information comes from the secretary of state’s office, Kyle Webb, director of IT service for the Knox County board of commissioners, said. Also, the sites will be tested for weaknesses to possible cyber attacks.
“(Secretary of State Frank) LaRose has ordered recent measures for all 88 counties preventing interfering with elections, to limit the possibility of anything happening,” Webb said. “It’s to keep voter’s confidence, knowing what they are seeing is from a trusted source.”
To get there, the IT team is rebuilding the BOE’s website, which will have a ‘.gov’ dominion name. All BOE email will be sent from .gov addresses, and the website will be ADA compliant – for example, being reader/scanner-friendly for the blind.
To identify cyber-attack risks, the BOE’s accounts will be targeted for what is known as penetration testing. The testing will be done by federal agents or contractors known as “ethical hackers.” The hackers attack the system and find ways to break in, then issue a report identifying where the system is vulnerable. The county’s IT team would then go in to make the fixes.
The new website should be ready to go by the end of the month, Webb said. It will be reviewed by the elections board before going online.
Knox County Board of Elections Director Kim Horn said seeing the .gov at the end of the website address will help with voter confidence. The BOE has always strived to keep the information on its social media accounts and webpage accurate, Horn said.
“We don’t want any opinions, just factual information,” Horn said.
Horn further said the BOE is planning to hold the Nov. 3 election the same as any other election, with in-person voting on election day and early voting beginning Oct. 6. Mail-in and absentee options will be available.
Horn said she expects more interest in mail-in due to the coronavirus. Already, more than 600 voters have requested the mail-in option; the ballots won’t be mailed until Oct. 6, but early applications are being accepted, Horn said.