Former PA secretary of state founds election security firm

Former Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar has opened a consulting firm to improve election security, democracy and civil discourse across the country.

“I see the role of Athena Strategies with two missions,” said Boockvar, who lives in Bucks County. “One is providing resources and support to election officials and the second is to strengthen and rebuild trust and faith in democracy.

“It’s extremely challenging,” said Boockvar. “We are at a pivotal point in our country.”

Boockvar was secretary of state from 2019 to 2021 where she was targeted by those promoting false claims of election fraud in Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election.

“Honestly, it was the worst time of my life,” she said of threats of violence against her and her family, who live in Bucks County.

She later resigned following a matter unrelated to the election in which a proposed state constitutional amendment was improperly advertised.

Prior to becoming secretary of state, Boockvar was senior advisor on Election Modernization to Gov. Tom Wolf.

With Athena Strategies, Boockvar said she hopes to better educate all those involved in the election process with facts about how American elections are run.

“People don’t have accurate information on the security and integrity that’s in the election process at every step,” she said. “Disinformation and misinformation easily goes viral because it doesn’t regard the protections in place to protect our elections.

“It’s precisely because our election systems are so well designed for safety that they are complex,” said Boockvar. “We need to do a better job of explaining that.”

Athena wants to collaborate with others to better publicize understandable, accurate election information to voters and the larger public.

“There are a lot of good people, Democrat and Republican, in this space,” Boockvar said. “We just need more people, more ‘ambassadors’ to reach people where they are.”

Many have applauded Boockvar’s qualifications for this critical work, including the Brennan Center for Justice and the Institute for Responsive Government.

“Kathy’s deep expertise as a former chief election official, combined with her leadership in election security and as a voting rights attorney, creates a unique ability to see issues from every angle and provide thoughtful and practical guidance,” said Sam Oliker-Friedland, executive director for the Institute for Responsive Government.

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