A bill drafted to help protect the country’s election infrastructure against malign attacks has stalled in the Senate at the urging of the White House, according to a report.
The Secure Elections Act, introduced by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., was scheduled to be marked up by Senate Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt Wednesday but was pulled from consideration due to an unknown reason, Yahoo News reported Thursday.
White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters told the news outlet the Department of Homeland Security already had the statutory power required to work with state and local officials to bolster the security of elections across the nation.
The bill should not be a duplication of “existing DHS efforts,” it should not impose “unnecessary requirements,” and it shouldn’t “violate the principles of Federalism,” Walters wrote in a statement.
“We cannot support legislation with inappropriate mandates or that moves power or funding from the states to Washington for the planning and operation of elections,” Walters added.
The Secure Elections Act proposes a number of popular reforms. First, it would provide the top election official from every state with a security clearance so they can be read-in on potential threats. Secondly, it aims to better facilitate the inter- and intra-government flow of information. The bill would also encourage a shift away from all-electronic voting in favor of machines that create a paper record of ballots cast.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Blunt did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.
The Trump administration has struggled to deal with the risk of future election interference following the settled conclusion that Russia meddled in 2016. President Trump has offered conflicting statements on whether he agrees with the intelligence community’s assessment that foreign actors tried to influence the outcome.
