The bipartisan leadership of the House panel that oversees elections is unified about the need to do more to help states and localities secure voting systems against cyberattacks.
"Action is needed now to grasp the scope of the problem and to innovate concrete solutions" in time for November 2020, Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, said at Wednesday's hearing of the House Administration Committee. "This goal will be a primary focus of this committee moving forward. No matter your side of the aisle, the oath of upholding democracy as citizens and elected leaders is fundamental."
Rodney Davis of Illinois, the committee's top Republican, said he takes "the responsibility of ensuring fair and secure elections extremely seriously" and that Russian interference in the 2016 election was "troubling," The Hill reported.
How much Congress allocates to the problem in the coming months is very much up in the air, however. The $380 million appropriated last fall and since distributed across the country has not come close to fulfilling all the states' needs for enhanced technology. Replacing the election systems in Pennsylvania alone would cost $100 million.
