Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said Tuesday that a bipartisan election security bill won’t be passed by Congress ahead of November’s midterm elections. Lankford told The Hill that the text of the bill, known as the Secure Elections Act, is still being worked out. And with the House only being in session for a limited number of days before the elections, the chances of an election security bill being passed by then are next to none. “The House won’t be here after this week so it’s going to be impossible to get passed,” Lankford said of the bill.
The legislation, which aims to protect elections from cyberattacks, was initially set to be addressed by a Senate committee last month. But the markup was abruptly postponed by Senate Rules and Administration Committee Chairman Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) over a lack of Republican support and after some secretaries of state shared concerns about the bill, a GOP Senate aide told The Hill at the time.
The White House was also critical of the legislation, saying that it “cannot support legislation with inappropriate mandates or that moves power or funding from the states to Washington for the planning and operation of elections.”
The legislation is co-sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who has urged lawmakers to take steps to secure U.S. elections.
Full Article: Election security bill won’t pass ahead of midterms, says key Republican | TheHill.