House-passed election bill takes aim at foreign interference

A sweeping elections bill passed by the House on Wednesday night would boost cybersecurity measures and focus on countering foreign interference efforts like the kind that affected the 2016 and 2018 elections.

The bill, which the House passed on a mostly party-line vote of 220-210, marks a major effort by Democrats to tackle both voting reforms such as increasing access to the polls through use of mail-in ballots, and cybersecurity upgrades.

Among issues included in H.R. 1 is a requirement that states use voter-verified paper ballots as part of the election process, a move supporters have pointed to as a vital safety net to check votes in the event of election tampering.

The legislation also calls for the president to create a national strategy to defend democracy, and included bipartisan amendments spearheaded by Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) intended to shore up election security even further.