Coalition of AGs asks for grants, security standards, and bipartisan election-security legislation to address “persistent threats to our election systems”
News Release, Office of Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh
BALTIMORE, MD (June 18, 2019) – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh has joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in expressing a “significant concern regarding the persistent threats to our election systems.” The attorneys general are asking Congress to take action to protect the integrity of America’s elections.
In a letter addressed to key U.S. Senators, Attorney General Frosh and the other attorneys general ask Congress to provide additional election security grants to states and localities, support the establishment of cybersecurity and audit standards for election systems, and pass bipartisan election-security legislation. Today’s letter follows up on a similar letter that attorneys general from 21 states sent to Congress in July 2018.
“It’s highly likely that Russia will be coming after our elections again in 2020,” said Attorney General Frosh. “The Trump administration has not taken sufficient action to combat this threat to our national security. Without fair elections, there is no democracy. I urge Congress to step in to ensure that no one is able to hijack our elections ever again.”
The attorneys general cite the existence of warnings that “our election systems have been a target for foreign adversaries and that those same adversaries are currently working to undermine the upcoming elections.” Their letter follows confirmed reports that Russia successfully breached election systems in Florida, installed malware on voting-systems software used in North Carolina, and targeted the election systems of all 50 states in 2016.
In addition to Maryland, the letter to Congress was signed by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.