How State and Local Governments Are Securing the 2026 Midterm Elections
As the largest election jurisdiction in the nation, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder and County Clerk operates under a massive microscope. During the 2024 general election, the county’s systems encountered approximately a billion “network events of interest” — anomalous network activity from around the globe that probed the county’s digital periphery.
To manage this sheer scale, CIO Aman Bhullar says the office uses artificial intelligence within its cybersecurity operations center. AI allows the county to sift through this intelligence, identifying patterns and separating harmless automated bot traffic from active threats.
Bhullar emphasizes a comprehensive, zero-trust approach to election security that ensures only authorized individuals can access critical systems at the exact moment they need them.
Heading into the 2026 midterm elections, local election officials face a shifting threat landscape. While physical security remains a priority, the digital battlefield has grown more complex, fueled by advancements in artificial intelligence and the proliferation of tailored social engineering attacks.
https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/how-state-and-local-governments-are-securing-2026-midterm-elections?amp