Editor:
In the face of overwhelming evidence that our elections remain vulnerable to foreign interference, the Senate has failed to pass much-needed election security measures. I’m calling on my senators and the rest of Congress to immediately allocate greater election security funding to states.
Former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report clearly outlined how the Russian government orchestrated a disinformation campaign and targeted election infrastructure in multiple states in an attempt to sway the election for Trump.
But the reality of foreign election interference is worse than Mueller’s report indicates: The Senate Intelligence Committee recently concluded that all 50 states were targeted by Russia in the 2016 election.
Bill HR3351, which recently passed in the House of Representatives, would help prevent future interference by allocating $600 million to states to replace outdated voting equipment with a system that uses voter-verified paper ballots. Currently, many states have no way to verify vote counts in the event of a cyber attack — and this $600 million in election security funding is an important step in the right direction.
I implore our senators to support a Senate version of the bill. Americans are counting on lawmakers to keep our democracy safe.
Amelia Jones Santa Monica