WASHINGTON- U.S. Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) today released the following statements calling on Congress to include key provisions of the Secure Elections Act in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The proposed NDAA amendment introduced Friday by Lankford and Klobuchar would strengthen America’s election cybersecurity and protect against the possibility of future foreign interference by streamlining cybersecurity information-sharing between federal intelligence entities and state election agencies and providing security clearances to state election officials.

"The National Defense Authorization Act gives us a unique opportunity to pass the Secure Elections Act,” Lankford said. “The security of our election systems is a major national security issue, and this legislation will help states prepare our election infrastructure for the possibility of foreign interference. We have worked extensively with stakeholders to strengthen this bill; now is the time to get this done to defend against election-related threats.” 

“Election security is national security, and as every one of our top intelligence officials has testified: our elections are under attack from foreign adversaries,” Klobuchar said. “The integrity of our elections is the cornerstone of our democracy, and there are only 147 days until the next election. We don’t have time to wait, Congress needs to act and pass the Secure Elections Act so states can respond to these cyberattacks and threats in real time. Continued inaction is not an option.”

In March, Lankford and Klobuchar introduced the Secure Elections Act with Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Richard Burr (R-NC), Mark Warner (D-VA), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) to strengthen election cybersecurity in America and protect against foreign interference in future elections. The Secure Elections Act streamlines cybersecurity information-sharing between federal intelligence entities and state election agencies; and provides security clearances to state election officials. This bipartisan solution would bolster our election systems against future threats while protecting states’ primacy in running elections.

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