Operational Security — Election Security Glossary

Operational security is the set of day-to-day practices, procedures, and habits that keep election operations running safely. Unlike a firewall or an encrypted protocol, operational security is not a single product. It is a culture: the way a county office handles a phone call, how a vendor ships a laptop, the procedure a poll worker follows when opening a polling place at 6 a.m.

Why this category matters for election security is that most failures are not the result of sophisticated attacks. They are the result of someone being tired, being misled, or being in a hurry. A strong operational security program builds in double-checks, time for verification, and procedures that work even when the people executing them are new, stressed, or unsure.

The federal government, through the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Election Assistance Commission, publishes operational guidance for election offices. That guidance typically covers physical security, cyber hygiene, phishing awareness, and incident planning. State election directors and professional associations add their own layers, often focused on poll worker training and chain of custody procedures.

The terminology in this category reflects the everyday nature of the work. The concepts here are not abstract. They describe what a county IT director does on a Monday morning, or what a poll worker does when a voter disputes a provisional ballot.