Election Security Task Force Receives First Briefing
(WASHINGTON) – The Congressional Task Force on Election Security, chaired by Committee on Homeland Security Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Robert Brady (D-PA) received its first information gathering briefing to inform its work on securing our election systems.
The Task Force was briefed by the Brennan Center For Justice on its new report: Securing Elections From Foreign Interference. Brennan Center experts offered specific actions Congress and local election officials can quickly take to insulate voting technology from continued foreign interference. Their report focuses on assessing and securing two of the most vulnerable points in the system: voting machines, which could be hacked to cast doubt on or change vote totals; and voter registration databases, which could be manipulated in an attempt to block voters, cause disruption, and undermine confidence when citizens vote.
Co-Chairs Thompson and Brady released the below joint statement following the briefing:
“Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and targeting of voting infrastructure in at least 21 states was a direct attack on our democracy. The American people expect their government to do whatever possible to prevent this from happening again. While Republicans refuse to look into this issue, we are taking the steps to begin an investigation into what we can do to secure our election infrastructure and prevent what transpired last year from happening again. The Brennan Center’s expertise on election issues will lend us to our first public meeting in the coming weeks where we will hear from officials and experts with diverse backgrounds. This will be the first step towards forming solutions to protect our democracy and its cherished institutions from malicious actors and outside influence.”
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Media contact:
(Thompson) 202-225-9978
(Brady) Jamie Fleet at 202-225-2061
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