05.13.22

Durbin Joins Colleagues To Urge Department Of Homeland Security To Help State And Local Governments Improve Election Security

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) this week joined U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Gary Peters (D-MI) in leading 11 of their colleagues in urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to help states effectively use funding from the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program and the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) to improve election security. 

“We write to urge the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take steps to ensure that state and local governments are able to effectively use funds from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) and the new State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program to enhance election security. In order to help facilitate this, we request that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency inform state and local election officials of the ways both grant programs could be used to enhance election security,” the Senators wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. 

“As states continue to administer the 2022 midterm elections and prepare for the 2024 federal election cycle, it is imperative that the federal government continue to invest in bolstering election security and ensure that state and local governments have resources to modernize their election infrastructure and protect against threats to cybersecurity and physical security,” the Senators continued. 

The letter was also addressed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and was signed by U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tina Smith (D-MN), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Angus King (I-ME).

Earlier this year, Durbin joined his colleagues in urging the Biden administration to prioritize election security funding to improve the administration of federal elections in its Fiscal Year 2023 budget proposal. 

In April, Durbin also called on the Justice Department to take additional action to protect election workers from threats to their safety. Last October, Durbin led 20 of his colleagues in a letter seeking an update from the Department of Justice on the actions of the Department’s Election Threats Task Force. The Task Force was created last July to receive and assess reports of threats against election workers.

As Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Durbin has also been a driving force behind the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Last fall, Durbin worked with a bipartisan group of Senators to release a draft of the legislation that would build support from both parties. If enacted, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would adopt new protections for election workers, polling locations, and election infrastructure.

Durbin is also a cosponsor of the Freedom to Vote Act, which would set basic national standards to make sure all Americans can cast their ballots in the way that works best for them, regardless of what zip code they live in, including by improving voting access, expanding early-in person voting and voting by mail, and modernizing election systems. All Senate Democrats cosponsored this legislation and voted to advance the bill in January. 

Full text of the letter can be found HERE and below:

 

May 11, 2022

 

Dear Secretary Mayorkas, Administrator Criswell, and Director Easterly:

We write to urge the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take steps to ensure that state and local governments are able to effectively use funds from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) and the new State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program to enhance election security. In order to help facilitate this, we request that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency inform state and local election officials of the designation of election security as a national priority under the FY 2022 HSGP and the ways both grant programs could be used to enhance election security, and that DHS encourage states to include their chief election official in the application and planning process for both grant programs.

Election infrastructure is critical infrastructure and a matter of national security. While state and local governments have made significant progress in improving election security, challenges and opportunities for further improvements remain. Election security includes both cybersecurity and physical safety and security, which has become increasingly important with the rise in threats and harassment against election officials, workers, and volunteers. To ensure state and local governments receive necessary resources to continue improving election security, including protecting election officials, when appropriate federal agencies should encourage the use of existing grant programs for election security improvements.

DHS has previously issued guidance requiring applicants for the HSGP to include proposals to use a portion of their allocation for election security-related improvements. For FY 2020, DHS guidance made clear that election security enhancements were included in two of four designated national priorities under the HSGP – including enhancing cybersecurity and enhancing the protection of easily accessible public and crowded places. Based on the FY 2020 HSGP guidance, we were pleased to see that DHS specifically included election security as a national priority in the FY 2022 HSGP. In order to ensure that state and local governments can effectively follow this year’s grant guidance, we request that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) inform state and local election officials of the national priority designation and how HSGP funds can be used to improve the physical security and cybersecurity of elections.

At the end of last year, Congress authorized a new DHS grant program through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act specifically for cybersecurity improvements. This new program - the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program - will distribute over $1 billion in grants over the next four years to improve the cybersecurity of state, local, tribal, and territorial governments. Many of these governments have significant needs related to the cybersecurity of election systems, and the intelligence community has confirmed that foreign adversaries have interfered in previous U.S. elections and that election infrastructure remains a target. For this grant program as well, we request CISA to ensure that state and local election officials are aware of the new grant program and how its funds could be used to enhance election cybersecurity.

Finally, we ask that for future fiscal years DHS continue to designate election security enhancements as a national priority for the HSGP.

As states continue to administer the 2022 midterm elections and prepare for the 2024 federal election cycle, it is imperative that the federal government continue to invest in bolstering election security and ensure that state and local governments have resources to modernize their election infrastructure and protect against threats to cybersecurity and physical security. 

Thank you for your attention to this important matter and for your ongoing work to help secure our democracy.

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