Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., is working hard to prevent Russian President Vladimir Putin from meddling in November’s midterm elections. Unfortunately, the bill he has put forward would inadvertently help the Kremlin — and hurt America and its allies.

Together with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Van Hollen has introduced the Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines Act. Cleverly called the DETER Act, the legislation would harshly sanction Russia if it put its finger on the scales of American democracy ever again.