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CHARLESTON -- The West Virginia secretary of state will present a video and PowerPoint on election cybersecurity this weekend to a national group of secretaries of state.
Secretary of State Mac Warner will present to the National Association of Secretaries of State's 2019 Summer Conference this weekend in Santa Fe, N.M.
"We have entered a new age -- the age of Big Data -- and our culture is being driven by algorithms, artificial intelligence, bots, blockchain, machine learning, micro-targeting and social media," Warner said. "Unfortunately, Russia and other bad actors have weaponized these tools and like judo experts are using these against us. They know elections are the heart of democracy, so elections are the center of gravity for their disinformation operations."
Warner said he collaborated with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and state Department of Education to develop the public education campaign about foreign and Russian interference in American elections through social media. Also produced was an audience-specific PowerPoint presentation.
"Educating our citizens on how to recognize disinformation and misinformation is a top priority," Warner said. "Foreign entities know the best way to break down trust between citizens and citizens and their government is through division. We can't allow that to happen."
The video focuses on election cybersecurity and specifically on foreign and Russian interference in the 2016 and 2018 elections. The two-minute version of the video is on YouTube at https://bit.ly/31Uy0TD.
Warner encourages social, civic and military organizations to show a six-minute version of the video as a program for their memberships. The video highlights the effort made by foreign entities to circulate misinformation on social media.
The full-length video is at https://bit.ly/2ZUsdvF.
The PowerPoint presentations are audience and age specific. Working with state Superintendent of Schools Steven Paine, Warner developed a presentation for high school civics, government and history teachers.
Teachers may use the video and PowerPoint combination to educate students on the impact social media has on elections, Warner said.
West Virginia was the first state in the nation to hire a National Guard asset to monitor election security, the first to offer a mobile voting option for military and overseas voters, held the first statewide county clerk training conference using Harvard's Belfer Center Election Security Playbook and used federal Help American Vote Act funds to upgrade election equipment and security.
Warner, a West Point graduate, graduated from the West Virginia University College of Law and spent 23 years on active duty in the United States Army. He has two master's degrees in international law and military law.