Should the Election Assistance Commission Give States Grants for Securing Their Election Systems? (S. 2593)

What is S. 2593?

(Updated September 2, 2019)

This bill — the Secure Elections Act — would give the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) the primary responsibility within the federal government for sharing information about election cybersecurity incidents, threats, and vulnerabilities with federal entities and election agencies. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) would award $386 million in election system cybersecurity and modernization grants to states and election agencies to implement the panel’s guidelines. Grants would be awarded to: 1) remediate vulnerabilities identified by a cybersecurity evaluation; 2) replace electronic voting systems that aren’t optical scanners that read paper ballots; and 3) reimburse states for statistical audits of ballots in close federal elections.

The EAC would establish an advisory panel of independent experts to develop guidelines on election cybersecurity that include standards for procuring, maintaining, testing, auditing, operating, and updating election systems.

Argument in favor

This commonsense, bipartisan bill would provide needed funding for states to secure their election systems while ensuring that their security is continuously monitored and updated.

Argument opposed

There’s no need for the federal government to provide grants to states for election security or ensure they’re updating their systems, states can take care of it on their own.

Impact

States and their election agencies; the EAC and its advisory panel; and DHS.

Cost of S. 2593

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) introduced this bill to improve the security of election systems from cyber threats:

“During the 2016 election, Russian entities hacked presidential campaign accounts, launched cyber-attacks against at least 21 state election systems, and attacked a US voting systems software company. This revised Secure Election Act adequately helps the states prepare our election infrastructure for the possibility of interference from not just Russia, but possibly another adversary like Iran or North Korea or a hacktivist group. Although funding for election security is included in the Omnibus appropriations bill, Congress still must pass the Secure Elections Act in order to put needed improvements into law.”

Original cosponsor Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) added:

“We know -- and our top intelligence officials have confirmed -- that our election systems remain a target. The bipartisan group of co-sponsors on the Secure Elections Act have been working with state election officials and the Department of Homeland Security to improve this bill and ensure those on the front-lines of administering elections are equipped with the information and resources necessary to keep them safe. This week we made progress by securing $380 million in funding, but it’s not enough. There are 227 days until the next federal election and primaries have already begun, Congress should pass the bipartisan Secure Elections Act immediately.”

This legislation has the support of 11 bipartisan cosponsors, including five Democrats, five Republicans, and one Independent. The $386 million in election security grants contained in this bill was included in the omnibus appropriations bill, although its other provisions weren’t included.

Media:

• Sponsoring Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) Press Release
  
• The Hill