Chad Houck provides an overview of how the State of Idaho was able to secure its 2020 elections. Idaho developed some unique partnerships that utilized lessons from the military to enable election administrators to have access to real-time situational intelligence. Chad Houck’s talk provides a valuable model for other states preparing for future elections.
About the Speaker
Chad Houck is the Chief Deputy Secretary of State for Idaho. Prior to working with the Secretary of State’s office, Chad was a private consultant advising on operational and process improvements in the IT and commerce space. Now in his sixth year at the IDSOS, he currently oversees the Elections, IT, and Corporate Divisions of the Office of the Secretary of State and is responsible for the management of both the state appropriated SOS budget and of the IDSOS Federal Grants Programs. He has served on the Idaho Governor’s Cybersecurity Task Force, and has assisted in the development and execution of virtual and in-person elections cybersecurity tabletop training exercises (TTX) in partnership with both state and federal agency collaborators including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Boise State University, Harvard University, and the Idaho Office of Emergency Management. In addition to helping create an Elections Cybersecurity Center for Excellence at Boise State University, Mr. Houck has expanded his contributions in the elections space through participation as a panelist and guest speaker at multiple elections security conferences and forums. He is a master’s degree student with the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School, anticipating completion in September 2021.
