CHICAGO -- The Election Infrastructure Initiative released the following statement in reaction to the House Financial Services and General Government committee releasing a budget proposal that eliminates federal funding for election departments.

“I cannot fathom why the House would zero out funding for election infrastructure given the strong bipartisan support that exists for strengthening our nation’s election security,” said Tiana Epps-Johnson, executive director for the Center for Tech and Civic Life. “More than 1,000 local election officials asked Congress to boost funding this year and this budget has ignored that request entirely as they head into 2024. This budget proposal misses the mark entirely and I hope the Senate  will provide $400 million for election infrastructure in its appropriation bill.”

“It’s deeply frustrating to see the House eliminate funding for election departments when there is such strong support among state and local election officials from both sides of the aisle,” said Sam Oliker-Friedland, executive director of the Institute for Responsive Government. “This budget proposal is salt in the wound for election officials of both parties who want their offices to be responsive to the needs of local voters. When it reaches the upper chamber, the Senate must do better.”

Previously, Congress allocated funding of $75 million in last year’s budget. 

According to a recent study from MIT, public spending on election services ranks near the bottom, about the same as what local governments spend on parking facilities.

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.”

Unfortunately, despite the designation from DHS, the federal government does not consistently fund local election departments.  

The Election Infrastructure Initiative (EII) has estimated election funding needs at $53 billion over 10 years. That includes $49.3 billion needed for election administration and operations, $1.8 billion needed to replace antiquated voting machines, $935 million needed to update statewide voter registration systems, $256 million to bolster post-election audits and $999 million for cybersecurity improvements and maintenance.

Previously, EII rallied a bipartisan group of state and local officials from around the country that called on Congress to allocate funding to local and state election administrators for secure election infrastructure.