A bipartisan group of state attorneys general is urging Congress to take steps to further protect state election systems from foreign interference ahead of the November midterm elections.
The 21 attorneys general sent a letter Monday to Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, expressing their “grave concern over the threat to the integrity of the American election system.”
“The integrity of our nation’s voting infrastructure is a bipartisan issue, and one that affects not only the national political landscape, but elections at the state, county, municipal, and local levels,” they wrote. “It is our hope that you agree, and will take swift action to protect our national legacy of fair and free elections.”
The letter calls on Congress to pass election-security legislation, boost funding to support improvements to state election systems, and support the development of cybersecurity standards for election systems as a means of preventing foreign attacks in the future.
“It is imperative that we protect the integrity of our elections,” the attorneys general wrote. “We must ensure that the upcoming 2018 midterm elections are secure and untainted.”
Monday’s letter to the state attorneys general follows this month’s indictment of 12 Russian officials for crimes related to interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The indictment alleges the Russian officials “knowing and intentionally conspired with each other” to hack into email accounts from staff with Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the computer networks of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic National Committee.
The 12 Russians released the stolen materials under the names “DCLeaks” and “Guccifer 2.0,” according to the indictment.
The state attorneys general said in their letter the indictment, which stemmed from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, bolstered the need for action to ensure the integrity of U.S. elections is protected.
