Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley this week joined 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 to fortify election security against interference both domestic and abroad.
“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 … 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,” Wyden, Merkley and 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, led by Senators Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Senator Gary Peters, D-Mich., was also addressed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Along with Wyden and Merkley, it was signed by Senators Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Chris Coons, D-Del., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Angus King, I-Maine.
The entire letter is here.
A web version of this release is here.
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