Since 2018, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has provided training and support for state elections officials to fight election interference.
But when Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows reached out last year ahead of its local elections, she said the agency was "suddenly unavailable."
That's because the Trump administration has dramatically reduced the agency, cutting its budget and a third of its staff, and freezing contracts.
"We were on our own," Bellows said. "We have received zero guidance from the feds about CISA's role in providing election security to the states."
With the midterms coming up in November, state elections officials say that they are having to prepare for potential problems without as much federal assistance as they have had in the recent past, and that they are suspicious of the help that CISA may offer.
"There is a high level of distrust with what should be federal partners with state election officials," an aide to a Republican secretary of state, who was granted anonymity to speak freely without fear of retaliation, told MS NOW.
The FBI has invited the chief elections officials of all 50 states to a phone call next week on preparations for the midterms.
When asked for comment, CISA said it is still offering "threat intelligence, expertise, no-cost tools and resources" to elections officials.
"Any claims that CISA is not communicating with our state and local partners is false," a spokesperson told MS NOW.
Read Julia Jester's analysis here.
