Inside the Washington Office of the Secretary of State with Kevin McMahan

[00:00:00] Welcome back to another episode of, honestly, Callie. Thank you for joining me today. Today we have a special little treat. I have this project that I'm doing for my online government class.

It's an applied civics project. And it was kind of free reign. We gotta pick what we got to do. And I was like, what can I do that's easy, but also something I know how to do that use my talents well. And I was like, podcast, of course. And so I was like, I'll interview some people for this. And so my first guest that I have is Kevin McMahon, the assistant.

My first guest is Kevin McMahan, assistant Secretary of State. And I really appreciate him joining me for this, and thank you for tuning in this conversation.

All righty. uh, my name is Kevin McMahon and I am the Assistant Secretary of State for the State of Washington. And so in that role, I have what we refer to as a, a portfolio. Uh, and within that [00:01:00] portfolio I have our Elections division, uh, which, uh, supports elections within the State of Washington.

Uh, as you know, I'm sure you heard with the general election that we recently had. A lot of the effort and the voter pamphlets and then assisting in supporting the counties where the actual election ballot processing and everything takes place. So anyway, that is a part of my portfolio. And then I have, another division called our information Security and response.

And so they are our cybersecurity professionals that protect our office and our critical systems from cyber threats. And then they also do strategic messaging related to elections. and, uh, trying to get the word out, uh, as to how our process works, how, the ballot goes out from the county and all the associated things that happen to make sure that they get, counted, uh, so that Washingtonian voices are heard, uh, for our elections.

And then I have a, a, a newer program that's about a little over a year old now, [00:02:00] uh, which is called our civic engagement program. Um, and this program is designed to reach out to, uh, different communities, to assist educated and inform on the civics process within the state of Washington so that people understand how to, uh, engage elected officials or, you know, initiate a, uh, ballot initiative if they want to try to get something changed within our, our state.

And then just kind of the, the whole process of what civics looks like. And so this team is designed to go out and, and engage and inform, uh, Washingtonians.

okay, let's start by, you talked about election, so let's kinda start with that. we had the big election earlier. What did your office Mm-Hmm.

And what kind of work were you doing to prepare for that and be ready for that?

Oh, great question. So a, a couple different things. So the elections team itself, uh, was working with the counties doing what we call a logic, logic and accuracy test. Uh, and so these teams, assist [00:03:00] the counties in conducting this test before every election that we have within the state of Washington.

We have four elections per year. Even if it's not a presidential year, like this year, uh, there's always four elections. And so these teams go out and assist in conducting that logically and accuracy test to make sure that the ballot machines are working as they are intended. Uh, the team also then provides, uh.

support from a, uh, we have what's called Vote Law, which is our centralized voter registration database. And so we have a team that assists in making sure that the information that the counties are using to support their efforts, uh, via vote law or operating appropriately. And then we have another team that designs, proofreads and then sends out for publication a voter pamphlet, a statewide voter pamphlet.

And then we also do outreach to, uh, schools, high schools, elementary schools, middle schools, uh, and then just, uh, outreach itself on elections. And so that's what [00:04:00] the elections team was doing, um, as we were heading towards the general election this year. And then also supporting the, the other elections that we had, uh, prior to the general, the primary, the presidential primary.

And then there was a, a special election as well. Then my information security and response team was, making sure that our systems were protected from, uh, threats, cyber threats. They could be nation states that, uh, want to try to get in and, and, uh, steal data or, you know, do whatever. they. Might want to try to do.

Um, and then also criminals with, uh, ransomware, uh, and trying to, to basically get in and then take our, uh, access to our systems away so that then they would turn around and say, Hey, if you want access back, we need a million dollars or something like that. And so the, the team was making sure that not only Boat WA but all the other critical systems within our, our office were protected.

Okay. That's very cool. So I wanna dive a little bit more into what your security team is doing. 'cause that's something that sounds very interesting to me. [00:05:00] So what else do they do besides dealing with election safety and ensuring the safety of that?

Yeah. Well one of the things that we've recently had them do was, working with, um, a, a variety of individuals to include our, our information technology division, the Elections Division.

Uh, we basically ran a, uh, load testing effort to make sure that, uh, vote wall would be able to handle, um, all of the activity that it would, uh, see as the leading up to the election and the election day itself. And so, uh, they built scripts. They ran stuff in an environment that's not our production environment for, but in a, a quality assurance environment.

Um, and we were able to determine there, there were some, technical things that needed to be modified to make sure that it could handle the loads that we anticipated seeing. We're able to continually run those tests and sit down with the business owner and make recommendations on what that should look like.

[00:06:00] Um, and so that really assisted our efforts on election day itself because had over 15 million, um, activities that took place in that one day, um, and it was able to handle that. That, uh, amount of load and that activity. Uh, and so the efforts that that team did in conjunction, with the elections team and the, the IT team was able to make sure that, that we were prepared for that.

one of the other things that they've done is we had a county back in 2023, about two weeks prior to an election, uh, re receive ransomware. And so they realized that we needed to come up with some solutions to assist counties, uh, so that if they did have some type of environment that might preclude them from being able to support the election, uh, that we could provide a resource to help them.

I wanna be clear that the resources that we're talking about are more the, the laptops, the desktops, and the network that the county uses for just day-to-Day operations. [00:07:00] the tabulation machines were, were never impacted because they're air gapped and they're not on a network. But what this team did is they went back, looked at some off the shelf solutions, and came up with what we call a GO kit.

We then purchased three Go Kits for Eastern Washington, three Go Kits for Western Washington. Uh, so that if a county all of a sudden had an issue, uh, these teams could then quickly get these kits to the county and they can quickly set up for the elections team, the ability for them to continue to do their day-to-Day operations so that they're not in a contested environment.

So those are just a couple examples of what that team has been able to accomplish just this year.

Okay, that's so cool. Uh, you mentioned those like security concerns. Do you have a lot of issues where there's ransomware coming in or is it like every once in a while?

And also how did you get to implement these things? Because like technology hasn't always been such a huge like impact. In like the government. And so how has that come in recently and [00:08:00] how have you had to adapt and get used to all these new technologies that can come in and that can affect thing.

That's the things that are going on inside the government.

it's really a team effort, um, in the sense that, uh, my team works with cisa, which is the cybersecurity infrastructure security agency at the federal level, uh, to where we work with, their teams to make sure that we, Have the most current threat information that they might be seeing from nation states or from criminals.

And so we talk with them on a very consistent basis. We have a meeting once a month where CISA is present. The FBI is present, my team is present. the emergency management division for the state of Washington is there. And we just collaborate and share information of potential threats and threat vectors that might impact, uh, our office.

We also work with a, A group called the Center for Internet Security, which is a group really designed to support, uh, state, local, territorial and tribal governments. Um, and [00:09:00] so they also have some resources that we, we've been able to utilize to enhance our efforts that we are doing ourselves. Um, and then we also are providing funding to the counties.

And so each county can receive $80,000 from the Secretary of State's office to support election security. And that can be both physical security or cybersecurity as long as they have an intrusion detection system called Albert. and those funds, then we've seen that the counties have also made significant improvements.

Uh, not only within the cyber aspect, but also the physical security aspect, uh, to ensure that election officials and staff are protected. to your point, there are an ever-changing environment. Um, we, I. Get requests at times from individuals saying, Hey, you know, we, we, we think you might be getting scanned today.

Um, our office, like many other offices, either at the federal or at the business level, are scanned and probed on a consistent and [00:10:00] daily basis where individuals are trying to take a look and see if there are any vulnerabilities that we might have. Um, and. To date, we have been able to mitigate and stop, those activities.

We can't stop them from continuing trying to scan and, and look, uh, at our systems, but we have the protections in depth to, um, currently prevent any of those, uh, vulnerabilities.

It's very interesting hearing about like this side of it because from like what I've been learning in my government class, it's like, it almost doesn't put it at like a real level.

It talks about like, oh, this is how the government works, but doesn't say this is how they're doing things now and this is how mm-hmm. What they're doing now is affecting us. And so I find that really interesting Do you have something to say? Well, so to

that I'll also highlight, so elections in, uh, 2017 was designated a critical infrastructure within the United States.

And that designation is really pro an emphasis by both the federal, uh, the state and the local efforts to ensure that, that the [00:11:00] election infrastructure and systems are, are protected. Um, and so again, I think that's a team effort between all of those entities that I previously spoke about. That's kind of to your point, uh, we don't necessarily think that that's well known of the collaboration, uh, efforts that continually go on to make sure that those systems, uh, meet the needs of, the election of, of the election offices themselves, but more importantly, are protected so that Washingtonians and the rest of the United States' voices are heard when they vote on, on election day.

So you brought up earlier about how. You collaborate and the security team collaborate with Mm-Hmm. Different federal agencies. What else is Washington's role within like the federal government? Like how does the things that we do here relate to things that are happening on like a national level?

Hmm. I can only speak for our office. and, and a lot of the work that's, you know, cross-reference between the feds and the state, [00:12:00] really it comes down to that engagement that we have with the, with csa. Um, if there are instances where the Federal Bureau of Investigation needs to be brought in, uh, that takes place, um.

I, I think that's kind of the, the main areas where I think we're working with our, our federal partners, uh, more so on the election side. the other thing, our office also has, you know, the state library. We've got a, a corporations and charities division. So if you're gonna have a corporation or a charity in the state of Washington, you go through our office to get your appropriate documentation and licensing so that you can do that.

um, we, we share, You know, those LLCs and the, charitable information, uh, with both the Department of Revenue here in the state of Washington. Um, and then obviously there's some, I'm sure communications going back and forth with the federal side of the house. Um, but the emphasis that, that I really focus on myself and my team is that that relationship with, CISA and the FBI.

Okay. That makes, that makes a lot of [00:13:00] sense. Uh, and when you were talking about what you do in the beginning, you mentioned talking about civic engagement. Mm-Hmm. And so the next question I have for you is, how important is it that young people are civically aware?

I think it's extremely important. and I'll give you an an example.

if we look at the current ballot returns and the engagement of individuals in the state of Washington. we consistently see individuals from the age of 18 to, I believe it's 26, is the lowest group of individuals who vote in our state.

one of the things that we want to make sure that people understand is that your vote matters. Uh, because that is your voice, to elect individuals that then are going to assist in ensuring that your priorities, needs of, of state and local government are being met. Uh. So, 18 to 24 year olds in the state of Washington, or 65% of eligible voters voted in this most recent election, [00:14:00] which is the lowest, uh, percentage of the various age groups that we, we track. If you also look at 25 to 34, that is 68.1% voted mm-hmm. If you compare that to the age group of 55 to 64, 85 0.4% of those individuals in that age group voted.

So what that tells me is that either A, the age group of 18 to 34, just don't think that they're. Their vote matters or maybe some of the topics that are on the ballot don't matter to them. Um, but I think then that allows other age groups to really dictate the policies and procedures within this state.

And, and that's an unfortunate thing, I think because I'd like to think that every eligible voter in our state would want to make sure that their voice is heard. And so this group, along with some other groups that we have within our office, are going out to educate and [00:15:00] inform individuals on, you know, voting is actually a, a, a civic responsibility.

Um, and so we'd like to make sure that people understand that.

What do you do to educate people about voting and the government?

Yeah, so we've got a, a, a couple different, initiatives that we're looking at. one of the things that we've done is we do trivia nights. Um, we've done one of those trivia nights in a, Spanish speaking community.

So it was all in Spanish. Uh, we did another one where it was in English, and we're engaging those individuals. Obviously. Um, this takes place at a, at an establishment where 21 and older are, are there. Uh, but we're trying to reach out to that young 21 to 30-year-old age group, uh, to ensure that they understand.

how civics works, and the questions for that trivia night are all civic related. We also do not necessarily within the civic engagement team itself, but within our elections team, we do mock [00:16:00] elections that we send out and work with various school districts throughout the state of Washington so that the first time an 18-year-old person sees a ballot or tries to understand how the elections work in the state of Washington isn't done on.

You know, when they actually turn 18, they get to participate in that, uh, dependent upon when the school district, uh, wants to, to utilize that resource. And then we've got teams that are just going out and, trying to educate and inform, whether it's at, at universities, on campuses, or maybe it's engaging, different civic groups, throughout the state, to, pass along that information.

One of the other things that we do from our strategic messaging is we're trying to get all of the various social media, outlets that are out there to put information that will engage, you know, 18 year olds while at the same time, you know, on different platforms, engaging individuals that are saying my age, that are in their fifties.

Hmm.

Looking at that as somebody who's a bit younger than that, that sounds [00:17:00] interesting. Like that makes, that makes me want to get involved. Hearing all those different initiatives and being like, oh, it doesn't have to be all stuffy and confusing. I can't understand it. And I think that's, yeah, really cool.

What would you say to somebody who's like my age, like I'm 17 and I'm can't quite vote yet, but I'll be able to vote soon. What should I do while I'm still young, before I can vote to be ready to vote?

Yeah, great question. So I, I would recommend, a couple different things. One, sit down with an adult.

Maybe it's your parent, maybe it's a teacher, variety of individuals, and ask them how they go about. understanding the different topics and or candidates that are on the ballot. You know, you're gonna find out that some people, read the newspaper or maybe they go to social media. and what I would recommend then is, is you start to find out that information then.

Ask them, where do you think you might have a, a blind spot or, you know, not necessarily getting all the [00:18:00] appropriate information. and what I mean by that is if you only go to one source, uh, to get information, then you're maybe not getting the whole story. And so then determining what are those valid and accurate sources of information that you can go to on those specific topics or candidates.

I would also recommend that young people, and I know this probably sounds a little boring, but get the voter pamphlet, uh, that was just published for the 2024 general election, and go through that and read it to make sure that you understand what that information provides and, you know, a variety of things that you, that you can look at to understand how our election system works.

And then the other thing I would tell you is in our state, an individual. Who is, say 17. So for example, my daughter this year, was able to register to vote and then she was able to participate in the presidential primary. That was in March, even though her birthday is in April, because if she turns [00:19:00] 18 prior to the general election, then she can participate in the election itself.

So she was able to, to vote in the. Presidential primary and she was able to vote in the primary, she'd already turned to 18 and then she was able to vote in the general election, but she was, you know, a part of that election process. So making sure that that young people know when you actually can vote in our state, because it's not just necessarily, you gotta turn 18 first.

mm-Hmm. Does that help?

Yeah, that does. That's awesome. It's really interesting to hear and like, as I've been take, as I've been going through this, this government class, My worldview has been expanded and I've learned a lot more about how things work in the government and how things are, and it's just been very interesting to hear that.

And so I really appreciate you, uh, taking the time to chat with me today. Do you have anything else you want to add?

You know, I guess I would add that, I read in the paper today a young lady who. became very active, uh, as [00:20:00] the general election was approaching. And what I, what I mean by that is she was participating in phone banks.

She was trying to call people to make sure that they were voting. She sat down with, um, some of her friends and was able to, ensure that one of her friends voted, uh, because they felt, you know, wasn't that important or the topics weren't that important. I guess my charge to, to you and your friends and people of your age is become involved.

I mean, if you really want your voices to be heard, then, then become involved in the process. Not just voting, but you know, support a campaign or an initiative or, you know, engage your, your county commissioners by going to a county commissioner's meeting and, and understanding that whole system and that process.

And as you've noted, the more you know, the more you become involved. The, the more, informed and engaged citizenry that we have, I think is a better community across the board because people are involved in the, the entire process itself. [00:21:00]

Okay. Awesome. Thanks for sharing that. That's everything here.

You bet.

Alright.

Okay.

Well thank you.

Of course. Thank you.