New pressure for election funding
Former national security leaders from Democratic and Republican administrations joined a coalition of left-leaning advocacy groups on Monday in urging Congress to provide states with funds to allow elections to move forward during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and John Kerry, former Homeland Security Secretaries Michael Chertoff, Tom Ridge and Janet Napolitano, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and more than two dozen other leaders sent a letter to House and Senate leaders calling on Congress to provide the funds.
“We know that hostile foreign actors like China, Iran and Russia seek to cast doubt on the integrity of our electoral systems,” they wrote. “These actors influence Americans by exploiting fear and confusion around the voting process. Failing to make sure that all citizens can vote safely and securely will only give them material to further erode faith in our democratic system.”
The leaders asked that Congress include funding to shore up elections in the next COVID-19 stimulus package, noting that the previous $400 million appropriated in the stimulus bill signed into law by President Trump in March was not nearly enough. Experts argue that states will need up to $4 billion to put on safe and secure elections this year.
The letter, spearheaded by New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, was sent the same day a coalition of left-leaning advocacy groups launched a week of action in an effort to pressure the Senate to approve election funds as part of the House-passed HEROES Act.
The groups are pressuring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to allow a floor vote on the Democratic-sponsored package, which includes $3.6 billion to help states address challenges including an increase in mail-in voting, early voting and training poll workers.
The coalition is urging McConnell to pass the bill this week when the Senate returns from recess, arguing that time is running out for the funds to be put to use before November.
The groups pressuring the Senate to act include All On The Line, Color Of Change, Let America Vote/End Citizens United Action Fund, Indivisible, Public Citizen, Stand Up America, and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
