Election security cutbacks force local officials to go it alone

Election officials across the U.S. are heading into their first votes in years without the level of federal support they've come to rely on.

The big picture: Federal agencies monitored both cyber and physical threats to elections over the past decade and built trust with local election officials. • But this year, much of that support has evaporated due to budget cuts and staffing reductions, officials tell Axios. Local election offices are left with fewer resources, less threat intelligence, and diminished federal guidance. • "It's kind of heartbreaking to know that they worked [on] creating these relationships and partnerships over the last decade, and they're now just disintegrating," Brianna Lennon, the county clerk in Missouri's Boone County, tells Axios. • Bloomberg reported ye