To: The United States Senate
Tell Senate to Support Secure Elections Act S.2261
Americans demand fair elections. Pass this bill in time to eliminate outdated, hackable, paperless voting machines in swing states before the November Elections, fund spot audits, and require states to report signs of election tampering.
Why is this important?
In 2016 Russia meddled in the Presidential election. Our intelligence agencies unanimously warn that Russia will meddle again in our midterm elections this November 6th, 2018.
As many as 50 million people (25% of registered American voters) currently vote on electronic voting machines (DREs) that do not produce paper backups. DRE’s are still in use in 15 states, including the swing states of Georgia, Pennsylvania and Virginia, despite well documented concerns by cyber experts that these machines are vulnerable to hacking, malicious software, and glitches that could result in incorrectly recorded votes. And because they are paperless, there’s no way to check the accuracy of reported election results. All computer voting is subject to tampering, and although many voting machines do have paper ballots that could be audited, audits are expensive for states, difficult to secure, and therefore rarely used.
How will we ever know that our votes are honestly counted? Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced The Secure Elections Act (S.2261) on December 21st. It has bipartisan support and is co-sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Susan Collins (R-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM). This Bill helps us to trust our election counts by requiring automatic spot audits. Additionally:
It eliminates paperless voting by returning to paper ballot back ups AND requires spot audits of machines to improve accountability and transparency in elections
It requires the federal government to cover cost of recounts and audits to eliminate financial strain on local governments AND provides federal grant funds to modernize voting systems.
It establishes "Bug bounties": lets federally contracted hackers in to election networks to search for vulnerabilities and offer cyber-security advice about where to focus limited resources
It requires the federal government to build a catalog of cyber-security services that they can provide to state agencies.
It calls for states, contractors, and vendors to notify the federal government and election agencies when their election systems are hacked or compromised.
Mitch McConnell and the Senate leadership are ignoring this Bill. In fact, most Senators aren’t even familiar with its provisions or the importance of safeguarding elections at the local precinct and tallying level.
Action
Demand that Mitch McConnell and the Senate pass this bill (S.2261) and demand that we move toward more secure, verifiable elections now before midterm elections.
As many as 50 million people (25% of registered American voters) currently vote on electronic voting machines (DREs) that do not produce paper backups. DRE’s are still in use in 15 states, including the swing states of Georgia, Pennsylvania and Virginia, despite well documented concerns by cyber experts that these machines are vulnerable to hacking, malicious software, and glitches that could result in incorrectly recorded votes. And because they are paperless, there’s no way to check the accuracy of reported election results. All computer voting is subject to tampering, and although many voting machines do have paper ballots that could be audited, audits are expensive for states, difficult to secure, and therefore rarely used.
How will we ever know that our votes are honestly counted? Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced The Secure Elections Act (S.2261) on December 21st. It has bipartisan support and is co-sponsored by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Susan Collins (R-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM). This Bill helps us to trust our election counts by requiring automatic spot audits. Additionally:
It eliminates paperless voting by returning to paper ballot back ups AND requires spot audits of machines to improve accountability and transparency in elections
It requires the federal government to cover cost of recounts and audits to eliminate financial strain on local governments AND provides federal grant funds to modernize voting systems.
It establishes "Bug bounties": lets federally contracted hackers in to election networks to search for vulnerabilities and offer cyber-security advice about where to focus limited resources
It requires the federal government to build a catalog of cyber-security services that they can provide to state agencies.
It calls for states, contractors, and vendors to notify the federal government and election agencies when their election systems are hacked or compromised.
Mitch McConnell and the Senate leadership are ignoring this Bill. In fact, most Senators aren’t even familiar with its provisions or the importance of safeguarding elections at the local precinct and tallying level.
Action
Demand that Mitch McConnell and the Senate pass this bill (S.2261) and demand that we move toward more secure, verifiable elections now before midterm elections.