The head of the country’s cybersecurity agency says U.S. cyber and physical election infrastructure is more secure than ever.
Jen Easterly is director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, also known as CISA. She said the agency has worked to ensure everyone’s vote will be counted accurately. At the same time, Easterly says election threats have never been more complex.
She said foreign adversaries are trying to influence the election by spreading disinformation online. Easterly says American voters should make sure they’re not sharing false information.
“That essentially does the work of our foreign adversaries for them. Because as we know, our foreign adversaries are very specifically looking to undermine American confidence in our election processes and our democracy. They’re looking to pit Americans against each other,” Easterly said.
She said voters should look to their state and local election officials for accurate information about the election.
*In other news, FEMA approved about $68 million in individual assistance for more than 6,900 Iowa households impacted by severe weather this year.
Spokesperson Sharon Karr said 29 of Iowa’s 99 counties received a federal disaster declaration, after tornado and flooding incidents.
"Unfortunately, Iowa was subjected to three natural disasters this year, and it was terrifying for all of them. Flooding, of course, was the largest and most frequent disaster natural disaster," Karr said.
The deadline for storm victims to apply for Iowa’s final presidential disaster declaration ended last week.
Karr said FEMA is focused on ensuring storm victims have a safe place to stay this winter, including using manufactured homes.
*Additionally, Sioux City School Board members in their Monday evening meeting will begin some initial discussions toward setting the budget for the next school year.
School District Superintendent Rod Earleywine will lead a discussion on the possible guiding principles for setting the 2025-26 school year budget. Such budgets must be set by all Iowa school boards by April 2025.
In the current year, the Sioux City School District operates with a budget of $197 million in the general fund, towards educating about 14,500 students.
