The men and women who lead election administration in states from coast to coast – from both of America's two major political parties – found no widespread fraud in any races in November's midterm elections or in any other contests in 2022, according to nearly two dozen top state election officials interviewed by the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit during a summit in the nation's capital. The annual winter conferences of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) and the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) held this month brought together election leaders and administrators from across the country to discuss lessons learned from last year’s races and ways to improve voting and confidence in future elections. The resounding conclusion of no widespread fraud by administrators at that conferences echoed a similar consensus made two years ago, when the National Investigative Unit asked the same question in January 2021, less than three weeks after a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol. Many of those rioters said they believed the false assertions of former Pres. Donald J. Trump and his allies – baseless claims that continue to this day – that Joe Biden did not fairly win the presidency. No widespread fraud When asked if they had found any widespread fraud that would have changed the outcome of any race in their states last year, 22 secretaries of state and election directors were unequivocal, even as a few candidates in various states still refuse to concede their losses from November."No," said New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan, a Republican, about whether he found any broad fraud."None whatsoever," said New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way, a Democrat and current president of NASS."Definitely we did not," said Phil McGrane, the Republican secretary of state in Idaho. Adrian Fontes, the Nevada secretary of state and also a Democrat, declared flatly, "There's no such thing.""No, we did not," said Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas, a Democrat."No, no, no," repeated Scott Schwab, the Republican secretary of state in Kansas."None," said Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, a Republican."No. Period," said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat."Absolutely not," said Karen Brinson Bell, the non-partisan executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections.WATCH FULL INTERVIEWS WITH TOP STATE ELECTION LEADERS AT THE END OF THIS STORY.More election threat prosecutions underwayFederal law enforcement authorities, in public briefings to election leaders during the gathering in Washington, D.C., reinforced the security of the country’s 2022 midterm elections. "I want to emphasize," said Cynthia Kaiser, deputy assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division, "That we have no evidence that a foreign government or other actors compromised election infrastructure or manipulated election results during the 2022 elections."John Keller, principal deputy chief of the Public Integrity Section at the U.S. Department of Justice, gave a lengthy briefing to a session of election directors on the efforts of his department's Election Threats Task Force. Threats against election workers have become a growing focus at the Justice Department, which created the task force in 2021. At the last conference of state election leaders, held in July, the department said four prosecutions were underway, leading to frustration at the time by some secretaries of state at the languid pace of cases amid hundreds and hundreds of reported threats.Six months later, the number of public prosecutions has tripled, Keller disclosed in the briefing, now to about a dozen, with more to come."There are other prosecutions and investigations that are ongoing that are not public," Keller said. "The primary mission of the task force is to investigate and prosecute these cases and hopefully deter this kind of behavior." In addition, the department will require new training for prosecutors nationwide who focus on election crimes, to help them evaluate the threats and decide whether to file charges, Keller said. "We plan to have a mandatory training for all the election crime coordinators, probably in late 2023."Keller added that the department has "not seen coordinated efforts among individuals where they're trying to coordinate their efforts to intimidate or threaten the election communities."Lessons learned At the four-day conference, election administrators also discussed the lessons they’ve learned from the latest political cycle, which concluded just weeks ago.In Kentucky, "early voting is very functional and very popular," Michael Adams, the Republican secretary of state there, said in an interview.Both Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, and Meagan Wolfe, who leads the Wisconsin Election Commission in a non-partisan position, identified "preparation" as a key lesson. Wolfe is also the current president of NASED."American voters rejected the rising fascism," said Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat from Arizona, where defeated 2022 Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake has still yet to concede and continues to make evidence-free claims of fraud."Many, many Americans decided that democracy was important," Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore echoed in a separate interview, referring to many election-denying candidates going down to defeat.Voters who have concerns about election administration "have to have those concerns addressed," said New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan, a Republican. His Democratic colleague from Nevada, Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, raised a similar point, saying, "You have to be transparent."Swiftly addressing and combating false information about how elections are run was a priority for many, including Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican who lamented "so much misinformation" – including by some in his own party. Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, a Democrat, and Thomas Connolly, the non-partisan operations director at the New York State Board of Elections, also both cited misinformation, with Connolly adding disinformation and mal-information to the list of concerns.Election Day cyberattackAnother challenge in 2022: cyberattacks taking down election websites in "a handful" of states on Election Day, federal authorities have confirmed. No cast ballots or official vote tallies were affected."We were hit with an attack," recalled Secretary of State Michael Watson of Mississippi, the state with the largest sustained outage on Election Day. Watson, a Republican, had predicted the day after the attack, in his first interview about it, that cyberattacks against election infrastructure are "only going to get worse." Three months later, Watson said he's now stressing "education" to prevent a repeat. "As we work together and communicate, I think the whole state will be better prepared in future."Jen Easterly, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency at the Department of Homeland Security, said in a news conference Wednesday her team will be sending additional cyber resources to states. "Importantly, going forward, we're going to make sure they have capabilities in place that can help reduce the impact or the potential for attacks," Easterly said.States split on more moneyMore cyber tools were not the only help some election leaders said they want this year."We absolutely need more money," to run elections, said Stephanie Thomas, the secretary of state of Connecticut and a Democrat. "You feel like you're begging," explained California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, also a Democrat.Meagan Wolfe, the administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, a non-partisan position, and New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat, both said sustainable or consistent funding – not unpredictable, one-time expenditures – is needed for election administrators to be able to plan ahead.But several Republican secretaries of state, including Michael Adams of Kentucky, Wes Allen of Alabama, Scott Schwab of Kansas, and Mac Warner of West Virginia, said in separate interviews they don't need additional federal funding. "It's a hard no," Schwab said. "We're not going to the federal government and asking for more money right now," said Warner.When told of his Republican colleagues' remarks, Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar, a Democrat, quipped, "Whatever funding is rejected by any other state, we will welcome it in Nevada."Recommendations for 2024Reliable funding is just one of the recommendations in a new report from the National Task Force on Election Crises ahead of the next election. Other recommendations include quicker vote counting to provide results sooner, along with more protections for election workers and officials from threats of violence and intimidation. "We've identified some gaps we still need to close up before 2024,” said Tammy Patrick, a member of the task force.Mark Albert is the chief national investigative correspondent for the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit, based in Washington D.C. Tamika Cody, David Barcenas, and Beau Harrison contributed to this report. If you know of election security concerns you want us to investigate, send confidential information and documents to the National Investigative Unit at investigate@hearst.com.WATCH FULL INTERVIEWS WITH TOP STATE ELECTION LEADERS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY: Alabama Secretary of State Wes AllenArizona Secretary of State Adrian FontesCalifornia Secretary of State Shirley WeberConnecticut Secretary of State Stephanie ThomasIowa Secretary of State Paul PateIdaho Secretary of State Phil McGraneKansas Secretary of State Scott SchwabKentucky Secretary of State Michael AdamsMichigan Secretary of State Jocelyn BensonMinnesota Secretary of State Steve SimonMississippi Secretary of State Michael WatsonNorth Carolina State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson BellNew Hampshire Secretary of State David ScanlanNew Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha WayNew Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse OliverNevada Secretary of State Francisco AguilarNew York State Board of Elections Operations Director Thomas ConnollyRhode Island Secretary of State Gregg AmoreVermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland HanzasWashington Secretary of State Steve HobbsWisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan WolfeWest Virginia Secretary of State Mac WarnerWATCH THE HEARST TELEVISION NATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE UNIT'S ONGOING SERIES ON ELECTION SECURITY: Part 1: Gaps in Preparedness Part 2: White House Response Part 3: Voting Vulnerabilities San Francisco Chronicle (print) version DIGITAL EXTRA: Kid Hackers Part 4: Cyber Combat Part 5: Election Security Summit (Day 1; Day 2) Part 6: Troll Hunters SPECIAL: Election Security 30-minute Special Part 7: Paper Ballots Part 8: Lack of Funds Part 9: Operation Blackout Part 10: Digital Disinformation Part 11: Voting App Hack Part 12: Deleting the Deception Part 13: Spotting the Spin Part 14: 2020 Election Summit Part 15: Election Exposure Part 16: Election Exposure Checkup Part 17: Return to Sender Part 18: Inside the Intelligence (Part 1; Part 2) Part 19: Grading the Election (Part 1; Part 2; Part 3) Part 20: Under Review Part 21: Securing the Midterms Part 22: Safeguarding the Midterms Part 23: Lessons Learned