VoteShield Nominated for National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) IDEAS Award by Iowa Secretary of State

DES MOINES, Iowa, May 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate has nominated his office's collaboration with VoteShield for a National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) IDEAS Award. VoteShield is a tool that analyzes public voter registration data and flags potential anomalies in changes to that data. It provides ongoing independent review of changes made to voter files, guarding against foreign interference and human error.

The collaboration began in 2018, and involves regular reviews of publicly available voter registration data by VoteShield, which flags potential anomalies for the Secretary of State's Office. The Secretary of State then examines the potential anomalies and determines whether they are valid.

In this way, VoteShield provides an ongoing external assessment of the work done by the Secretary of State's Office, ensuring total transparency.

In his nomination, Secretary Pate wrote, "Without confidence in our electoral process, we risk losing the most important fabric of our constitutional republic: the trust of the citizens in the basic American principle that we are a free and fair country. As election officials, it is our duty to ensure elections are protected and let our voters know the sanctity of their vote is upheld. This initiative […] can help us guarantee our 'government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.'"

The Iowa Secretary of State's Office enlisted Professor Timothy Hagle at the University of Iowa to provide outside validation of VoteShield and its analyses. Dr. Halge wrote in support of the nomination, stating that "VoteShield is an extremely valuable set of tools for state officials in charge of voter rolls as well as those interested in voter registration analysis. The analytic tools available help to guarantee the accuracy and security of voter registration processes."

To Secretary Pate, the outside validation provided by VoteShield is a vital external resource in ensuring election integrity and public confidence in our elections: "VoteShield & BallotShield not only protect the security of elections, but they can also provide reassurance and documentation that election officials at the county and state level can utilize to inform the public about steps they are taking to maintain ballot integrity. Using technology and transparency, we can boost voter confidence across the nation."

More information about the nomination can be found here.

VoteShield is an election security tool that reviews public voter registration data and flags potential anomalies for state and local election officials. It is a project of Protect Democracy (protectdemocracy.org), a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing American democracy from declining into a more authoritarian form of government.

SOURCE VoteShield