Klobuchar, Colleagues Urge President Biden to Prioritize Funding for Election Security in Fiscal Year 2024 Federal Budget

Letter

Dear Mr. President:

As you prepare your budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, we urge you to include $5 billion in funding for election security grants for the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to support the administration of our free and fair elections. These resources are a crucial source of funding that state and local election officials on the frontlines of our democracy use to ensure that every eligible American can cast their ballot and make their voice heard.

Importantly the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the 2022 midterm election - where more than 110 million Americans voted - was safe and secure, just as it did after the last presidential election. The funding we have dedicated to our elections in recent years contributed to this success, but we must continue to invest in this effort. The administration of our elections requires year-round, ongoing work that takes planning and substantial resources, and additional funding will be critical for election officials as they continue to get ready for next year's elections.

Election security is national security and we must fund it as such but inconsistent and unpredictable funding over the years has too often been the experience for those who run our country's elections. States and local governments need the resources to replace, upgrade, and maintain voting machines, voter registration databases, and other systems, invest in cybersecurity to keep pace with evolving technology, hire and train officials, improve accessibility, and protect election officials and workers who have faced a rise in threats in the course of carrying out their duties.

We have heard repeatedly from election officials about their need for reliable funding to do their jobs. Just over a year ago, Secretaries of State and Chief Election Officials requested $5 billion in federal investment -- a need that has not yet been met -- with additional resources needed in the coming decade to support improvements to election infrastructure as election officials face continued challenges following years of underinvestment.

While we continue to work to pass legislation to make voting easier and protect our election officials, we must ensure that state and local election officials have sufficient resources now to not only administer our elections but to make continued improvements. We should not wait for things to go wrong - for equipment to age and become unusable or a new cybersecurity threat to emerge - before we take action to strengthen the resilience of our elections.

We appreciate your continued leadership and we look forward to working with you to defend our democracy.