CCLP is pleased to welcome former US election official Scott Bates as a new Election Cybersecurity Fellow. Bates joins an exceptional team at CCLP working to protect campaigns and elections from cybersecurity threats.
The Election Cybersecurity Initiative (ECI), led by Executive Director Adam Clayton Powell III, informs and trains election officials around the United States and around the globe on matters of election security. Bates’ extensive experience working on Capitol Hill, state governance, and the international arena serves to strengthen CCLP’s retinue of election experts.
Bates has worked with elected leaders and activists to build democratic institutions and governance structures on five continents. During the pandemic election of 2020, Bates organized and led the Connecticut Election Cybersecurity Task Force and implemented its recommendations to secure networks and train personnel to protect election infrastructure. Bates also worked with state and local officials to develop and deploy a system to track and counter election related disinformation.
Bates has served as Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Executive Director of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State and Deputy Secretary of the State in his home state of Connecticut. He also served as the first Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee.
To read more about Bate’s experience, see his bio here.