Washington, D.C. — As Congress sends states a $380 million infusion of funds to upgrade election security, the Center for American Progress offers guidance on how officials should spend the money.
These funds come at a critical time, just seven months before midterm elections and following multiple warnings from national security officials that Russian operatives will again seek to interfere with U.S. elections.
Some states, such as Minnesota, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, are already taking steps to bolster the security of their election infrastructure. Still, as illustrated in CAP’s report “Election Security in All 50 States: Defending America’s Elections,” vulnerabilities in election infrastructure remain in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. CAP was among the groups urging Congress to act in a bipartisan way to give states the money necessary to bolster election security.
CAP recommends that states take the following actions:
- Prioritize switching to paper-based voting systems
- Implement robust post-election audits
- Provide cybersecurity training for election officials
- Fortify election equipment and system databases
“While the $380 million from Congress is not enough to fully upgrade state election systems, it shows that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle recognize the threat posed by foreign interference in America’s elections,” said Danielle Root, co-author of the column and voting rights manager at CAP. “Congress’ decision to act in a bipartisan way to dedicate some much-needed funding to election security is a good first step and states should use the funds to implement urgently needed security upgrades before the 2018 elections.”
Read the column: “State Election Security Spending Guidance for 2018 Omnibus” by Danielle Root, Liz Kennedy and Michael Sozan.
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For more information or to talk to an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected], or 202-478-6327.