Press release

Transatlantic, bi-partisan Commission launched to prevent election meddling

Biden, Chertoff, Rasmussen and Clegg among transatlantic figures signed up

11th May 2018 -- NATO, EU and other democratic countries will go to the polls in over 20 elections before the US Presidential Election in 2020, giving multiple opportunities for election spoilers. Yet, governments and institutions have yet to provide an effective response to this growing challenge.
 
This is why leading figures in politics, tech, media and business are joining forces to launch a Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity (TCEI).
 
Working with political and private sector leaders, and the media, the Commission will fill a void in transatlantic coordination, identifying and plugging gaps and raising awareness from governments to citizens; and it will look into the level of risk exposure across Western countries and ask how technology can address the problem. As part of their recently announced Defending Democracy Program, Microsoft is pleased to partner with the commission to provide technical expertise, capacity building and funding.
 
The Commission will be announced this Friday morning in Washington DC by its co-chairs, former NATO Chief and Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen; and former US Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff. The first meeting is scheduled for the 21st June, ahead of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit the following day.
 
Anders Fogh Rasmussen said ahead of the launch:
 
“The Western world is far too vulnerable to efforts, led by Russia, to undermine our democracies from within. We have taken unprecedented collective steps to protect ourselves from conventional attacks – especially in eastern Europe – but these efforts have not been matched by vital protections to our democratic processes.
 
“With 20 potentially pivotal elections in the democratic world ahead of the next US Presidential election, we cannot afford to stand by while our open and free societies are turned against us by cyber hacks, misinformation campaigns and other strategies that seek to alter the outcome of our elections. This is a transatlantic challenge and it needs transatlantic solutions.”
 
Michael Chertoff said:
 
“Our strength is our bipartisan and transatlantic nature. Particularly in the USA, the interference issue has become a political football that stands in the way of the bi-partisan effort we need. 
 
“The commission will raise awareness of the threat of election interference, and amplify the good work already being carried out, particularly in think tanks and by a few national parliaments. We face a dilemma of governments either failing to act or rushing into badly designed measures that could have unintended consequences that curb our freedoms. Our commission will make recommendations that strike this important balance.”

ENDS 
 
ABOUT THE LAUNCH:
The Commission will be launched on Friday at 10.00 EST at The National Press Club 529 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20045. To attend, please contact [email protected]. 

The Co-Chairs of the Commission are available for interviews on Friday. Please contact Ryan@rokksolutions to place a bid. 

For other media inquiries, please contact [email protected] or James Holtum +32-473-86-17-62 
 
NOTES: The membership of the commission is:
 
Joe Biden – Vice President of the United States (2009-2017) 
Felipe Calderon – President of Mexico (2006-2012) 
Michael Chertoff – United States Secretary of Homeland Security (2005-2009), Co-Chair
Nick Clegg - Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (2010-2015)
Eileen Donahoe - Executive Director, Global Digital Policy Incubator, Stanford Centre for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law 
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert – Defence Minister of the Netherlands (2012-2017), Member of the Dutch Parliament 
Toomas Hendrik Ilves – President of Estonia (2006-2016) 
Natalie Jaresko – Finance Minister of Ukraine (2014-2016) 
Tanit Koch – Editor-in-Chief of BILD newspaper (2016-2018) 
Jeanne Meserve – Anchor and correspondent at ABC news and CNN (1984-2011), Senior Fellow at the George Washington University Center for Cyber and Homeland Security (2011-2017)
Victor Pinchuk – Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist, founder of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation
Anders Fogh Rasmussen – NATO Secretary General (2009-2014), Founder, Alliance of Democracies, Co-Chair
Marietje Schaake – Member of the European Parliament, Vice-President of the European Parliament delegation to the US
Joanna Shields – UK Minister for Internet Safety and Security and Under-Secretary of State (2015-2017), Member of the UK House of Lords