Coalition Letter Demanding Senate Leaders Pass Election Security Funding

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Senate Majority Leader
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Charles Schumer
Senate Minority Leader
322 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

To Leader McConnell and Leader Schumer:

Earlier this year, Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified before Congress that foreign interference in American elections will persist in 2020. Specifically, Mueller warned that Russia, China, and other foreign entities are attempting to interfere in our elections “as we sit here.”

Yet, more than four months after Mueller’s declaration, the Senate has not passed a single piece of legislation that would secure our elections. That is an abject failure.

Before 2020, states must be able to protect voter data, defend against hacking, and replace outdated voting systems with machines using voter-verified paper ballots. That’s why your colleagues in the House of Representatives passed a funding bill (H.R. 3351) that would allocate $600 million to states and localities to help them defend against these vulnerabilities while ensuring accountability for the funding.

While we were encouraged that the Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment providing $250 million in election security funding, it has not passed the full Senate, and the amount falls woefully short of what is needed by the states.

Time has almost run out to provide states with the resources they need to protect the 2020 election. The best opportunity for lawmakers to effectively secure our elections before 2020 is by including $600 million in directed appropriations for election security in the continuing resolution that will extend government funding past November 21, 2019—when current government funding runs out.

Therefore, on behalf of the millions of Americans we represent, the undersigned organizations demand that the Senate include at least $600 million in election security funding, with appropriate accountability language, in the upcoming continuing resolution.

Unless the Senate includes this funding in the November 21 continuing resolution or passes a FY2020 appropriations bill that allocates sufficient election security resources to the states, time will have run out for us to protect the integrity of the 2020 elections.

As leaders of the Senate, you have a constitutional obligation and moral duty to protect the foundations of our democracy by ensuring that America’s elections are secure. Inaction is not an option.

Sincerely,

Stand Up America

Co-Signed By the Following Organizations:
Business for America
Clean Elections Texas
CREDO
Democracy 21
Franciscan Action Network
Greenpeace USA
Indivisible
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
New American Leaders Action Fund
Secure Elections Network
Sierra Club