1,000 signatures reached
To: All members of the US Senate
Secure America's Federal Elections (SAFE)
To members of the US Senate,
As recently as mid February 2020, cybersecurity experts reiterated their warnings that our election system is still vulnerable to attack -- domestic as well as foreign. Over the past three years several senate Democrats have tried to introduce, again and again, adequate legislation to meet the requirements for secure elections, among them Oregon Senator Ron Wyden. On February 11, 2020 Senator Wyden introduced the "Securing America's Federal Elections" Act (SAFE) that "has all three key elements recommended by our nation’s top cybersecurity experts: paper ballots, security standards and post-election audits, as well as the funding necessary to make sure states can live up to the new standards.” As you are probably aware, all attempts at passing this and similar bills to provide adequate protections have been stopped by Republican senators who have not allowed it to be debated on the Senate floor.
This is extremely unfortunate, even dangerous. Cyber threats are ever evolving and the US must be as prepared as possible to preserve the most fundamental precept of a true democracy – the unimpeded vote of the governed.
Are you aware there is not one mandatory cybersecurity-related standard required of all election jurisdictions? Without mandatory standards, unenlightened election officials may unknowingly buy new voting equipment that is out of date and very susceptible to hacking. Laws that appropriate money to social challenges come with strict regulations; why not have specific restrictions and detailed regulations laid out for money appropriated for election security, especially in this day and age of increasing cyber vulnerabilities?
In an August 2019 letter sent by Senator Mitch McConnell to Kentucky's top election official, Senator McConnell stated that “the Senate will continue to consider serious bills that attend to real obstacles that still face federal, state, and local authorities as they work together to secure our elections.”
Please be reminded also of the words of Robert Mueller in July 2019. "I will close by reiterating the central allegation of our indictments — that there were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election. That allegation deserves the attention of every American,"
Senators, I urge you to re-read the SAFE Act. If you come to believe we still have very real obstacles to our election system please co-sponsor this bill and rally the votes to get this legislation debated, passed and implemented as soon as possible. Voters deserve a secure election process, regardless of the financial cost. A respected democracy deserves an electoral process that assures voters that every vote will be counted --- and counted as voted.
Thank you very much for your time, consideration and prompt action.
Sincerely,
As recently as mid February 2020, cybersecurity experts reiterated their warnings that our election system is still vulnerable to attack -- domestic as well as foreign. Over the past three years several senate Democrats have tried to introduce, again and again, adequate legislation to meet the requirements for secure elections, among them Oregon Senator Ron Wyden. On February 11, 2020 Senator Wyden introduced the "Securing America's Federal Elections" Act (SAFE) that "has all three key elements recommended by our nation’s top cybersecurity experts: paper ballots, security standards and post-election audits, as well as the funding necessary to make sure states can live up to the new standards.” As you are probably aware, all attempts at passing this and similar bills to provide adequate protections have been stopped by Republican senators who have not allowed it to be debated on the Senate floor.
This is extremely unfortunate, even dangerous. Cyber threats are ever evolving and the US must be as prepared as possible to preserve the most fundamental precept of a true democracy – the unimpeded vote of the governed.
Are you aware there is not one mandatory cybersecurity-related standard required of all election jurisdictions? Without mandatory standards, unenlightened election officials may unknowingly buy new voting equipment that is out of date and very susceptible to hacking. Laws that appropriate money to social challenges come with strict regulations; why not have specific restrictions and detailed regulations laid out for money appropriated for election security, especially in this day and age of increasing cyber vulnerabilities?
In an August 2019 letter sent by Senator Mitch McConnell to Kentucky's top election official, Senator McConnell stated that “the Senate will continue to consider serious bills that attend to real obstacles that still face federal, state, and local authorities as they work together to secure our elections.”
Please be reminded also of the words of Robert Mueller in July 2019. "I will close by reiterating the central allegation of our indictments — that there were multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election. That allegation deserves the attention of every American,"
Senators, I urge you to re-read the SAFE Act. If you come to believe we still have very real obstacles to our election system please co-sponsor this bill and rally the votes to get this legislation debated, passed and implemented as soon as possible. Voters deserve a secure election process, regardless of the financial cost. A respected democracy deserves an electoral process that assures voters that every vote will be counted --- and counted as voted.
Thank you very much for your time, consideration and prompt action.
Sincerely,
Why is this important?
On February 11, 2020, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Mark Warner (D-VA) each attempted to introduce a separate election security bill through a 'request for unanimous consent' of the full Senate. The bills included the SAFE Act and two bills that would require campaigns to report offers of foreign assistance, including donations or coordination, to the FEC and the FBI.
If a foreign government offers to interfere to help a campaign, Senator Warner chided, "the appropriate response is not to say thank you. The appropriate response is to call the FBI."
Senator Blumenthal warned that after the Senate Republicans' acquittal of Trump, "There is no doubt that he will only be emboldened in his efforts to illegally enlist foreign governments in his re-election campaign."
Under the 'request for unanimous consent' rules, only one senator need object. In this instance a Republican senator from Tennessee objected three times and quickly halted consideration of all three bills.
In their defense, Republicans might say the Senate has already passed election security measures, which is true. $380 million was appropriated by Congress in 2018 to states for election security and another $425 million appropriated in the 2020 budget. (The House appropriated $600 million this year., but as talked about above the Senate won't pass it.)
But Wyden counters, "Any bill that gives hundreds of millions of dollars to states without requiring that states use paper ballots, conduct audits, and follow basic cybersecurity standards, is a nonstarter . . ." Wyden continues, “America is 266 days away from the 2020 election, and Majority Leader McConnell has yet to take any concrete steps to protect our federal elections from hacking or foreign interference." He adds that refusing to take even the simple step included in one of the bills that would ban states from connecting their voting machines to the internet is like "stashing our ballots in the Kremlin."
It's time American voters demand the SAFE Act be passed as soon as possible. Demand that adequately funded comprehensive election protections be in place and well functioning in time for this year’s election.
With persistence and focused participation, perhaps we can – together – make this issue a public priority, a media priority and even -- perhaps grudgingly -- a Senate priority! A vision that should certainly be attainable in a country still referred to as the greatest democracy on earth.
PS: Please share this information with your friends. If they do not want their names on the petition they can contact their senators by phone, mail or email by going to their websites found at this address: https://contactsenators.com/ Obviously, the more voices the better! Thank you for your participation!
If a foreign government offers to interfere to help a campaign, Senator Warner chided, "the appropriate response is not to say thank you. The appropriate response is to call the FBI."
Senator Blumenthal warned that after the Senate Republicans' acquittal of Trump, "There is no doubt that he will only be emboldened in his efforts to illegally enlist foreign governments in his re-election campaign."
Under the 'request for unanimous consent' rules, only one senator need object. In this instance a Republican senator from Tennessee objected three times and quickly halted consideration of all three bills.
In their defense, Republicans might say the Senate has already passed election security measures, which is true. $380 million was appropriated by Congress in 2018 to states for election security and another $425 million appropriated in the 2020 budget. (The House appropriated $600 million this year., but as talked about above the Senate won't pass it.)
But Wyden counters, "Any bill that gives hundreds of millions of dollars to states without requiring that states use paper ballots, conduct audits, and follow basic cybersecurity standards, is a nonstarter . . ." Wyden continues, “America is 266 days away from the 2020 election, and Majority Leader McConnell has yet to take any concrete steps to protect our federal elections from hacking or foreign interference." He adds that refusing to take even the simple step included in one of the bills that would ban states from connecting their voting machines to the internet is like "stashing our ballots in the Kremlin."
It's time American voters demand the SAFE Act be passed as soon as possible. Demand that adequately funded comprehensive election protections be in place and well functioning in time for this year’s election.
With persistence and focused participation, perhaps we can – together – make this issue a public priority, a media priority and even -- perhaps grudgingly -- a Senate priority! A vision that should certainly be attainable in a country still referred to as the greatest democracy on earth.
PS: Please share this information with your friends. If they do not want their names on the petition they can contact their senators by phone, mail or email by going to their websites found at this address: https://contactsenators.com/ Obviously, the more voices the better! Thank you for your participation!
How it will be delivered
At this point I think I will email the petition with its signatures possibly to Senator Wyden's office for him to share with the Senate? I'm new to this and do not live close to Washington D.C. So I will probably email them to him after several thousands of signatures are collected and keep him apprised of the hopefully increasing number of supporters. And maybe get ideas from him and his staff on ways to increase the petition's signatures and spread the word to more parts of the country, etc.