Senators are working to again revise legislation designed to help guard digital voting infrastructure from cyberattacks after meeting with state officials. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) told The Hill that he expects to work out the final details of the bill within “weeks,” after state election officials expressed some remaining concerns with the current version. Lankford and a slate of bipartisan co-sponsors originally introduced the legislation, called the Secure Elections Act, last December, months after the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that Russian hackers tried to break into voting systems in 21 states as part of a broader effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
…Officials and experts have stepped up demands for states to replace paperless voting machines with those that produce a paper backup that can be audited. President Trump and Kirstjen Nielsen, his Homeland Security secretary, have both endorsed the idea.
Congress has already sent $380 million to states to upgrade voting equipment and address security concerns.
The proposal — spearheaded by Sens. Lankford, Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and others — would go further. It would codify into law many of the actions already underway at the Department of Homeland Security, seeking to expedite security clearances to state officials and bolster information sharing between the federal government and the states on cybersecurity threats and breaches.
Full Article: Senators chart path forward on election security bill | TheHill.