FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Letter from Leading Conservatives to Congress offers strong Support for Federal Election Security measures that protect democracy
There is now strong and urgent bipartisan support for new federal grants and oversight to safeguard vulnerable state voting infrastructure and promote voter verified paper ballots and non-partisan audits
The letter from Republicans is notable as federal election standards and funding has traditionally been a Democratic issue
Unfortunately, the battle for political advantage in coming elections have delayed these truly non-partisan issues and sidelined debate on legislation in the U.S. Senate
Washington D.C.
Dec 1, 2021
As the US House and Senate consider various legislation to address issues of election integrity and security, prominent conservative leaders have sent a letter to Congressional leaders calling for new and consistent federal funding to help states manage threats to elections. The letter was sent by Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, along with a coalition of conservative grassroots organizations, including R-Street, FreedomWorks, The James Madison Institute, the Open Competition Center, and others.
The letter is notable as federal election standards and funding has traditionally been a Democratic issue, with Republicans reticent to act due to concerns about federal usurpation of state and local policy prerogatives. The conservative organizations emphasize that election cybersecurity funding is a matter of national security and a prudent use of federal funds.
“Just as the defense against other cybersecurity threats requires continuous investment,” they write, “Congress should plan long-term assistance to state and local governments. At a time when threats are growing, systems are aging, and public confidence in the voting process is falling to record lows, it’s only reasonable that lawmakers should act on this issue.”
Over the past few years, several legislative attempts - the latest being the Freedom to Vote Act championed by conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, and Rules Committee Chair Amy Klobuchar - have contained key provisions related to election security. These include revenue-neutral grants to states for election security improvements, support for state policies promoting paper ballots and risk limiting audits, and enhanced oversight for election technologies vendors. These are policies which most Republicans support, and which align closely with the policy objectives laid out in the conservative letter.
Unfortunately, the battle for political advantage in coming elections have delayed or sidelined these essential and truly non-partisan issues; particularly federal funding for beleaguered state officials desperate to upgrade elections security infrastructure.
As the conservative letter emphasizes, “leading computer science experts agree that hacking threats against US voting systems are growing, and that increasingly out-of-date elections infrastructure make for relatively easy targets. There’s widespread and growing recognition that computerized voting machines that do not produce a paper trail should finally be banned.”
The National Election Defense Coalition (NEDC), a successful leader in pressing Congress to properly fund elections and advocates for bipartisan solutions to election security issues, helped to organize the letter. “Today, the issue of federal funding and prudent standards for paper ballots and audits are national priorities,” said Ben Ptashnik, President of the NEDC. “With clear liberal, centrist and conservative support, Republican leaders in Congress and conservative Democratic Senators like Manchin, should do whatever it takes to overcome obstructionism and rebuild confidence in American democracy.”
Read the full letter to Congress
Contact: Media@ElectionDefense.Org