Thompson: Election Officials Need More Funding to Secure the November Election

Statement

Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, released the following statement about the continued cyber vulnerabilities of our election systems, and the need for more election security funding for state and local election officials to protect the 2020 election:

"The coronavirus pandemic has needlessly spread across the country because of President Trump's failure to protect us. And while he sends agents of the Department of Homeland Security into our city streets to squash our First Amendment rights, he continues to fail in protecting our right to vote and securing our election infrastructure from the viruses that infect our election systems.

"The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has conducted vulnerability assessments of election infrastructure across the country and has identified the need for increased cyber hygiene and IT upgrades essential to conducting a safe election. But election officials face budget cuts after conducting costly primary elections in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We need to provide resources to state and local election officials to secure their systems before the November election. I urge the Senate to include election security provisions within the House-passed HEROES Act and more election funding in the next COVID package."

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