Blue Dog Dems push election security funding

Leaders of the Blue Dog Coalition on Tuesday urged House and Senate leaders to provide states with election security funds as part of the ongoing appropriations process.

The Coalition, which consists of 26 moderate Democrats, wrote a letter to the bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees asking for their support in including $600 million to be given to states in order to bolster election security as part of the ongoing appropriations process.

“In light of the proven threat posed by Russia–and possibly other foreign powers–to our democratic process, we believe the final bill should provide $600 million or as close to it as possible,” the leaders of the Coalition wrote.

They also asked that when the House and Senate meet to negotiate their bills that language requiring the funds to go towards improving the cybersecurity of elections also be added, such as providing cybersecurity training for election officials and moving towards voter-verified paper ballots.

The letter was signed by Reps. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), Tom O’Halleran (D-Ariz.), Lou Correa (D-Calif.), Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.), Kendra Horn (D-Okla.) and Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.).