Washington, DC—Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s (HI-02) Securing America’s Elections Act (H.R. 5147) has earned the support of Common Cause, a national non-partisan, grassroots organization committed to upholding American democratic values. The congresswoman's legislation protects the country’s election infrastructure from cyber-hackers by requiring the use of voter-verified paper ballots or a paper ballot backup in federal elections, beginning with the 2018 elections. The Securing America’s Elections Act will be included as part of Common Cause’s 2018 “Democracy Scorecard” that tracks Members of Congress’ records on democracy reform bills, which includes legislation such as the Voter Empowerment Act, Government by the People Act, Voting Rights Advancement Act, and more.

The Securing America’s Elections Act would authorize emergency funding to empower every state to use voter-verified paper ballots that produce an auditable paper trail ahead of the 2018 elections. It also incentivizes the use of safe and secure software in voting machines. This legislation expands on progress made in Hawai‘i and 14 other states that currently produce voter-verified paper ballots to provide the American people with an auditable, independent record of their votes.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said: “Ensuring the integrity and security of our nation’s election systems is critical to protecting our democracy from hacking by adversaries. With federal elections quickly approaching, the cyber vulnerabilities that exist within many election systems must be addressed now. I urge my colleagues to make sure that every vote will be accurately counted and pass the Securing America’s Elections Act to protect our elections from malicious hackers.”

“Common Cause appreciates Congresswoman Gabbard’s efforts, as well as the efforts of other Members of Congress, to secure our elections against malicious attacks,” said Aaron Scherb, Director of Legislative Affairs with Common Cause. “The Securing America’s Elections Act would help protect our elections by requiring the use of a voter-verified paper ballot, which would help prevent foreign entities from trying to undermine our democracy.”

“Securing America's Elections Act is an important step in improving our elections, but there is still a lot of work to be done. We look forward to working with Congresswoman Gabbard, and other members of Congress, as well as our state and local lawmakers and elections officials to ensure that our elections are secure, accessible, and efficient," said Corie Tanida, Executive Director of Common Cause Hawai‘i.

Background:

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard introduced the Securing America’s Elections Act (H.R. 5147) to protect the country’s election infrastructure from cyber-hackers by requiring the use of voter-verified paper ballots or a paper ballot backup in federal elections.

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