Senate bill aims to secure state voting systems against security threats

State-run election systems would be deemed critical infrastructure, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would be enlisted to protect registration data, voting systems, and ballots from foreign interference, under bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate on Tuesday.

The Securing America’s Voting Equipment (SAVE) Act, which was introduced by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), would also promote information-sharing and make grant funding available to upgrade voting systems based on DHS threat assessments.

Collins and Heinrich, both members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, introduced the SAVE Act in response to preliminary intelligence assessments that found Russian actors targeted the voting systems and voter registration databases of 21 states during the 2016 general election.

“While the Intelligence Committee’s investigation is still ongoing, one thing is clear: the Russians were very active in trying to influence the 2016 election and will continue their efforts to undermine public confidence in democracies,” Collins said. “The fact that the Russians probed the election-related systems of 21 states is truly disturbing, and it must serve as a call to action to assist states in hardening their defenses against foreign adversaries that seek to compromise the integrity of our election process. Our bipartisan legislation would assist states in this area by identifying best practices to protecting voting equipment, and ensuring states have the resources they need to implement those best practices.”

Under the bill, the top election official in each state and one additional representative could be granted security clearance by the director of national intelligence (DNI). The DNI could then share classified information about threats to voting systems and elections processes with the state officials.

“Our democracy hinges on protecting Americans’ ability to fairly choose our own leaders,” Heinrich said. “We must do everything we can to protect the security and integrity of our elections. The SAVE Act would ensure states are better equipped to develop solutions and respond to threats posed to election systems. Until we set up stronger protections of our election systems and take the necessary steps to prevent future foreign influence campaigns, our nation’s democratic institutions will remain vulnerable.”

Private vendors would also be brought into the fold under the SAVE Act through a program called “CooperativeHack the Election.” The program would forge vendor partnerships in order to share updates and information about threats to elections systems.