2015 Professional Practices Program

Building Statewide Resilience

Washington State

Submitted by: Lori Augino, Director of Elections Miriam Campbell, Training Program Specialist Cristina Labra, Grants & Budget Coordinator Washington Office of the Secretary of State 520 Union Ave – PO Box 40229 Olympia, WA 98504-0229 (360) 902-4165 miriam.campbell@sos.wa.gov vote.wa.gov

31st Annual National Conference

Houston, TX

Building Statewide Resilience Through the Emergency Management of Elections

Not IF, but WHEN: Wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides, and volcanoes – we’ve experienced these natural disasters, and more, in Washington State. IT malfunctions, public unrest, biological hazards, ferry system failures and a nuclear power plant also pose threats to election administration. From Hurricane Sandy, falling just 8 days before the 2012 General Election, we learned that displaced voters were surprisingly engaged in the face of adversity – many with nothing more than the clothes on their backs were grateful for the opportunity to vote. These inspiring voters challenged our assumptions about whether voters would care about voting in the midst of a tragedy. Acknowledging Washington’s natural hazard risks, and on the heels of the 2014 NASS Report for the Emergency Management of Elections, the Washington Office of the Secretary of State initiated a voluntary emergency preparedness program to help election officials prepare for 2016. Partnering with elected County Auditors and our state’s Department of Enterprise Services, we launched a free, certificate training program comprised of interactive webinars, in-person workshops, and emergency management expertise to collaborate with election departments across our state. Need for the program: Election departments often lack adequate support from their small, underfunded emergency management divisions who typically have other priorities. But, we wondered, how would they face a catastrophe like Hurricane Sandy when there’s a federal office on the ballot? Would the Washington Secretary of State’s Office be prepared to provide support? And if one county fails, don’t we all share in that failure? We’re confident Washington State could improvise and get through such adversity, but we also asked ourselves, “Wouldn’t we rather have a plan?” Before rolling out the program, Washington State surveyed the needs of our 39 counties serving 3.9 million voters, covering 71,362 square miles. The majority of election departments (82%) did not have an elections-related emergency management plan; while some had started a plan, others were uncertain their respective counties had any type of emergency plan (27%). However, the good news was the positive response to registering for our training program. The majority of county election officials (74%) were willing to participate in our statewide program to build a stronger, more resilient elections process through writing and testing emergency plans. What is a COOP – and why do we need one? A COOP is a Continuity of Operations Plan. When election services are interrupted by an emergency, a COOP is a blueprint for how to become operational again. It’s a plan that lays out actionable steps before we find ourselves making decisions in a high stress situation. Who’s in charge? Where do we go? Which functions are essential? These questions and many more are researched in advance, under calm conditions, and answered in the COOP. Why write a COOP? Because resiliency is just good government. As public servants, we will be called upon to protect the democratic process while encouraging participation, even in the face of a disaster.

Resilient organizations actively prepare, making them capable of bouncing back from hardships. This is why taking the time to write a COOP is like buying insurance – we may grumble about paying the premiums, but we’re sure glad to have the insurance when we need it. Description of the COOP Certificate Program: Because emergency planning is easy to “put on the back burner,” Washington State developed a year-long training program. Through our partnerships, we traveled to the four corners of our state to help officials learn about emergency management practices and be provided with the time, expertise, and templates to write their own COOPs. The training program focused on:

- Raising a sense of urgency; creating a culture of preparedness at work and home. - Developing a matrix (template provided) of essential functions and resources to be operational

in the next 12 hours; and operational for the next 30 days. - Completion of simple, actionable checklists (template provided) for each essential function (i.e.

voter registration, filing candidates for office, ballot tabulation). - Formalizing local agreements through Memorandums of Understanding (MOU’s). - Sharing and publishing of COOPs; statewide recognition of participating jurisdictions.

The following training events and curriculum were coordinated by the Washington State Elections Division to support county election departments. The voluntary sessions were interactive and free of charge. Webinar: Lessons Learned from Hurricane Sandy

- Washington State Elections Division Webinar: COOP with the Expert

- Washington State Elections Division - Washington State Department of Enterprise Services, Emergency Management

Regional Workshops: COOP with the Expert / Write your COOP

- Washington State Elections Division - Washington State Department of Enterprise Services, Emergency Management

Continued Follow-up Expertise & Support

- Washington State Elections Division - Washington State Department of Enterprise Services, Emergency Management

2015 Washington State Elections Conference

- COOP Certificate Program Awards - IT COOP Recovery, King County Elections - Test Your COOP, Washington State Elections Division & Dept. of Enterprise Services

The Outcomes Through the COOP Certificate Program, Washington State has made significant gains in election-specific emergency management planning (36% increase from one year ago). At this time, 21 of the 29 counties who registered for the training program have completed comprehensive plans (72% completion rate). Their COOPs have been published and shared with counties statewide. For their efforts, each department that completed a COOP was acknowledged in a public awards ceremony by Secretary of State, Kim Wyman, at our annual elections conference. The Secretary of State’s Office improved and updated its own COOP with a revised crisis communication plan and new Essential Function Checklists. What’s next? Testing the plans – and keeping them up to date. After all, a COOP is never “done.”

Building Statewide Resilience Through the Emergency Management of Elections Washington Office of the Secretary of State

A 2014 survey revealed that 82% of our state’s county election departments (in orange) were uncertain whether they had an election-related emergency management plan. Only 18% had some type of plan and just 3% had an election-specific plan and were testing it.

Election officials from nearly every county attended one or more COOP training sessions; 72% of counties who registered for the COOP Certificate Program completed the training series and published their written plans; 54% of all counties (in blue) now have election-related emergency management plans.

Building Statewide ResilienceThrough the Emergency Management of ElectionsWashington Office of the Secretary of State

We melded the election expertise of our state and county election administrators with the expertise of seasoned Emergency Manager, Bob Bippert. We collaborated with Bob to roll out live, interactive webinars and 4 regional in-person workshops. Our office, in conjunction with Bob, also provided ongoing support following the workshops to assist counties in finishing their COOPs.

COOP with the Expert- Benefits of a COOP- Components of a COOP- Essential Functions - COOP Checklists

Bob Bippert, Emergency Manager (left)

County Election Administrators – selfie! (right)

Team of trainers conducting online webinars in an interactive talk show style. Topics covered:

Lessons Learned from Hurricane Sandy- What we learned from our partners?- How can we prepare for an emergency?- Introduction of Certificate Training

Program

Cristina Labra, Bob Bippert, Miriam Campbell at the Washington State Elections Division

Miriam Campbell, Cristina Labra, Lori Augino at the Washington State Elections Division

Building Statewide ResilienceThrough the Emergency Management of ElectionsWashington Office of the Secretary of State

Through our partnerships with Washington’s elected County Auditors and our state’s Emergency Management Division at Enterprise Services, we provided training, templates and expertise to improve Washington State’s ability to serve voters amidst interruptions or major crises. We are committed to protecting the process while also encouraging participation -- even in the face of disaster.

In the spirit of building resilience, these drives have been made available to ALL counties in Washington State as a resource for strengthening their own emergency preparedness plans. We’re all in this together.

Each elections department that completed a COOP was acknowledged in a public awards ceremony by Secretary of State, Kim Wyman, at our annual elections conference.

This waterproof flash drive is loaded with election-specific emergency plans from 21 counties who participated in our COOP Certificate Program. (Per practice paper guidelines, we’ve also provided 2 plans submitted by county election departments as a result of their program participation.)