As Congress Continues Budget Work, New Letter From 14 Secretaries of State Asks For Funding for Local Election Administration
WASHINGTON -- Secretaries of State from around the country issued a letter renewing their request for Congress to allocate $20 billion in funding to local and state election administrators for secure election infrastructure over the next 10 years. The letters come after Congress declined to allocate funding for local and state election officials in the budget resolution, and as threats against election workers continue to increase.
“When the chief elections officers of more than a dozen states come together and ask Congress to properly fund the critical election infrastructure that is the foundation of our democracy, I hope Congress will listen,” said Tiana Epps-Johnson, executive director for the Center for Tech and Civic Life. “The secretaries of state are making a common-sense request that will mean safe, secure and accessible elections for voters and election workers for years to come.”
The Department of Homeland Security in 2017 officially designated election infrastructure as “part of the existing Government Facilities critical infrastructure sector.” DHS noted that election infrastructure “is vital to our national interests, and cyberattacks on this country are becoming more sophisticated, and bad cyber actors – ranging from nation-states, cybercriminals and hacktivists – are becoming more sophisticated and dangerous.”
“We know that the challenges before you are great, and that difficult prioritization decisions must be made. But we want to be sure you know how acute our needs are. Our states have just been through the most challenging election imaginable: the COVID-19 crisis, huge shifts to vote-by-mail ballots, unprecedented dissemination of disinformation, and threats against election officials of both parties,” the letter states. Read the full letter here.
A 2021 analysis by the Election Infrastructure Initiative found that election infrastructure needs at the local and state level over the next decade are a full $53 billion dollars. These funds are needed to safeguard systems from cyber security threats, update and maintain equipment, systems, and facilities, and ensure that there are enough well-trained staff to effectively run elections.
A previous letter by the Election Infrastructure Initiative was signed by over 250 bipartisan local and state elected officials and election administrators from around the country. The letter states that a significant investment in election infrastructure “will give local election offices the ability to modernize and secure equipment, and the certainty to plan and execute professional, accurate elections with integrity for voters for years to come.”
Lack of consistent funding has been a persistent problem for election administrators whether they are in red or blue states. Federal election infrastructure funding will bolster election security and resilience which improves voter confidence in our system. With federal funding, election departments will be able to make urgently-needed modernizations, including:
Replacing outdated voting machines
Upgrading voter registration databases and websites
Investing in election management equipment, including ballot sorters, envelope openers and stuffers, and ballot verification technology
Upgrading local election management systems, including software
Investing in physical infrastructure (including real estate) to allow local election secure facilities for storage of election equipment and materials
Bolstering systems to execute election audits
Strengthening cybersecurity posture
The Center for Tech and Civic Life is a nonpartisan nonprofit harnessing the promise of technology to modernize the American voting experience. We connect Americans with the information they need to become and remain civically engaged, and ensure that our elections are more professional, inclusive, and secure.