Infrastructure — Election Security Glossary

Election infrastructure is the underlying set of systems, facilities, and services that elections depend on. It includes the buildings where election offices are housed, the warehouses where voting equipment is stored between elections, the data centers that host voter registration systems, the communications networks that connect precincts to central tabulation, and the power and connectivity that keep all of this running.

Why this category matters for election security is that the integrity of an election depends on the integrity of the infrastructure it runs on. A compromised election management system, a warehouse that has been physically breached, or a power outage on election night are not abstract threats. They are realistic failure modes that election offices must plan for.

Federal designation of election infrastructure as critical infrastructure (in 2017) brought election systems into the same framework as power grids, water systems, and financial networks. That designation brought with it access to threat intelligence, incident response support, and prioritization for federal resources. State and local election offices have used that access to harden their infrastructure.

The terminology in this category covers both the infrastructure itself and the practice of protecting it. The concepts here are concrete. They describe the systems, facilities, and services that election administration depends on.