(LifeSiteNews) — National Guard cybersecurity teams will provide monitoring of threats to election systems in 14 states today, six more than it provided in the primary elections.
“By executive order, Gov. Jared Polis activated cyber teams statewide in Colorado. In Connecticut, cyber units are providing municipal cybersecurity reviews. In Iowa, Guard members assist with selection security, providing 24-hour threat monitoring,” a National Guard news release stated.
The Guard said its presence helps provide “nonpartisan validity” to the results of the election.
“We are that third party assisting so that confidence is instilled across all systems on Election Day,” Army Brigadier General Brent Welsh, adjutant general of the Washington National Guard, said in the statement.
“Battleground states of Arizona, Iowa and Pennsylvania will participate, alongside Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, New York, Washington and West Virginia,” Politico reported. North Carolina will also have National Guard troops assisting with monitoring.
READ: ‘We will be a great nation again’: Trump teases ‘big announcement’ following midterm elections
Welsh, with the Washington National Guard, warned that some states do not have the capabilities within their National Guard.
“What you notice is 54 states and territories—not everybody’s doing it, and those that are have invested in cyber talent and cyber missions for years,” he said, as reported by Defense One.
“So if you don’t have a cyber unit in your state, chances are you’re not in a good position to help out that state for some of the elections, security issues that we’ve got,” he said.