Protecting Your Ballot: Election Security Ahead of the 2026 Midterms

Ben Spear serves as Chief Infrastructure & Security Officer for the New York State Board of Elections and Director of its Secure Elections Center. This cross functional team of security and election experts secures the State Board and election technology, while advancing cybersecurity maturity for 58 city and county boards of elections through best practice guidance, security grant funding, and shared services.

As founding Director of the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), Ben collaborated with federal partners and over 3,000 state and local election offices to secure the 2018-2020 elections through a combination of technology solutions and intelligence sharing. He remains actively involved as a state IT representative on the ISAC’s Executive Committee.

After nearly 20 years in state and federal homeland security roles, Ben leverages his unique blend of political and technical experience to translate complex threats into actionable strategies and establish a proactive defensive culture.

Kathleen McGrath is Director of Public Information for the New York State Board of Elections. As the agency’s chief communications officer, she serves as its primary spokesperson, leading public information efforts via both traditional and social media on election issues.  Ben Spear serves as Chief Infrastructure & Security Officer for the New York State Board of Elections and Director of its Secure Elections Center. This cross functional team of security and election experts secures the State Board and election technology, while advancing cybersecurity maturity for 58 city and county boards of elections through best practice guidance, security grant funding, and shared services.

The Public Information Office manages the agency’s website to ensure factual and up-to-date information is disseminated. It also administers grants for the county and city boards of elections, so that these boards can receive needed funding to keep election administration secure across the state. As the agency’s Records Access Officer, McGrath is tasked with fulfilling public records requests to ensure transparency of the agency’s work.

McGrath has been at the State Board since 2015: first in the Compliance Unit, then as the lead Trainer, and now as its Public Information Officer. Prior to coming to the State Board, she worked as the Director of Operations of a state party committee for six years. And prior to moving to the Capital Region, she worked in Washington, DC for a national campaign committee, a Member of Congress, and as a lobbyist. She has over two decades of experience in government, politics, and elections – in both the public and private sectors.