Senator James Lankford (R-OK) told The Hill Tuesday the Secure Elections Act, bipartisan legislation designed "to protect elections from cyber attacks," won't be ready before November.
[Last month's Senate committee] mark-up was abruptly postponed by Senate Rules and Administration Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) over a lack of Republican support and after some secretaries of state shared concerns about the bill, a GOP Senate aide told The Hill at the time.
The White House was also critical of the legislation, saying that it “cannot support legislation with inappropriate mandates or that moves power or funding from the states to Washington for the planning and operation of elections.”
The legislation is co-sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who has urged lawmakers to take steps to secure U.S. elections.
“With just 42 days until the midterm election, it is critical that we pass the Secure Elections Act as soon as possible," Klobuchar said in a statement to The Hill. "The bill is supported by both Democrats and Republicans who continue to work to get this done. With our nation under attack from foreign governments every day, there is a federal obligation to act.”
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers also introduced their version of the legislation in August.
The law requires states to use back-up paper ballots and requires audits after elections to make sure results are valid.
Congress has not passed another piece of legislation aimed at protecting election systems from cyber attacks since the 2016 election, which the U.S. intelligence community determined was influenced by Russia.
Lawmakers did include $380 million for states to upgrade and secure their voting systems in an appropriations bill passed earlier this year. However, House Republicans thwarted an effort to add more election security funding in a July spending bill, arguing that states has already received sufficient funds.
Election security bill won't pass ahead of midterms, says key Republican (The Hill)