Democratic presidential candidates are seizing on election security to attack Republicans for not doing enough to safeguard the country against foreign interference.

The attacks were also part of this week's Democratic debates, when a few candidates cited the threat posed by Russia, including their interference in the 2016 election as spelled out in special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE's report released earlier this year.

The calls for action comes as Mueller prepares to testify before Congress next month and as Democrats' push for enhanced election security has stalled because of Republican opposition.

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Sen. Amy Klobuchar Amy Klobuchar3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing Social media platforms put muscle into National Voter Registration Day Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight MORE (D-Minn.), at the Democratic debate on Wednesday, blamed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellTrump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline The Hill's Campaign Report: Trump faces backlash after not committing to peaceful transition of power MORE (R-Ky.) for preventing passage of election security legislation.

“We let the Republicans run our elections, and if we do not do something about Russian interference in the election, and we let Mitch McConnell stop all the back-up paper ballots, then we are not going to get to do what we want to do,” Klobuchar said.

McConnell has consistently refused to allow Senate floor votes on a number of election security bills in recent weeks, citing concerns that these bills would federalize elections and take oversight away from states.

Earlier this week, Klobuchar attempted to force a vote to allow the Senate to consider her Election Security Act, but was blocked by Sen. James Lankford James Paul LankfordMcConnell works to lock down GOP votes for coronavirus bill Charities scramble to plug revenue holes during pandemic Warren calls for Postal Service board members to fire DeJoy or resign MORE (R-Okla.).

Her legislation would require back-up paper ballots and provide $1 billion in election security grants for states to improve election security issues.

Lankford called Klobuchar's proposal a "partisan bill," while noting he's still hoping to work with her on re-introducing the Secure Elections Act, a bill that would strengthen cybersecurity information sharing and require all election jurisdictions to perform post-election audits to verify Election Day results.

The Oklahoma senator added that he has not talked to McConnell about potentially supporting passage of this bill.

On Thursday night's debate, technology entrepreneur Andrew Yang Andrew YangDoctor who allegedly assaulted Evelyn Yang arrested on federal charges The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden weighs in on police shootings | Who's moderating the debates | Trump trails in post-convention polls Buttigieg launches his own podcast MORE echoed Klobuchar’s concerns about foreign interference in elections, naming Russia as the greatest geopolitical threat to the United States, while noting the country “has been hacking our democracy successfully.”

“They’ve been laughing their asses off about it for years,” Yang added. “We should focus on that before we start worrying about other threats.”

Similarly, Sen. Michael Bennet Michael Farrand BennetOVERNIGHT ENERGY: House Democrats tee up vote on climate-focused energy bill next week | EPA reappoints controversial leader to air quality advisory committee | Coronavirus creates delay in Pentagon research for alternative to 'forever chemicals' Senate Democrats demand White House fire controversial head of public lands agency Next crisis, keep people working and give them raises MORE (D-Colo.) said during the debate that Russia poses a greater threat to the U.S. than China “because of what they’ve done with our election.”

President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE has resisted stronger action on election security, while accusing Democrats of politicizing the Mueller report in order to de-legitimize his win in the 2016 elections.

On Friday, Trump stirred some controversy after being asked by a journalist whether he would address Russia's interference in 2016 during a sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich PutinPutin nominated for Nobel Peace Prize Navalny released from hospital after suspected poisoning Ex-Trump national security adviser says US leaders 'making it easy for Putin' to meddle MORE at the Group of 20 summit in Japan.

Trump turned to Putin and said “don’t meddle in the election please” in what appeared to be a light-hearted manner.

Other 2020 candidates have also vowed to continue calling for tougher election security legislation.

Sen. Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing Bipartisan praise pours in after Ginsburg's death DHS opens probe into allegations at Georgia ICE facility MORE (D-N.J.) told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday that he lamented not having been able to talk about election security during his debate because he was vying for attention with 10 other Democrats on stage.

Booker added that “there will be a lot more opportunities to speak about issues that matter” during future debates.

Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenHillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Democratic senators ask inspector general to investigate IRS use of location tracking service MORE (D-Mass.) placed a spotlight on election security by releasing a plan on how she will address the topic if elected president. The proposal came the day before she appeared on the debate stage on Wednesday.

Warren wrote that U.S. elections are currently “less secure than your Amazon account,” and vowed to ensure the federal government paid for the replacement of every voting machine in the nation with new machines that allow for hand-marked, voter-verified paper ballots.

The Democratic candidates’ concern over election security comes as Mueller prepares to publicly testify before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees on July 17 in back-to-back appearances.

Mueller's report concluded that Russia conducted a disinformation campaign on social media platforms, and conducted cyber attacks against U.S. election officials and against the Democratic Party.

This week, the House passed the Securing America’s Federal Elections (SAFE) Act by a party-line vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Trump signs largely symbolic pre-existing conditions order amid lawsuit MORE (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer Chuck SchumerPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' 3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing Cruz blocks amended resolution honoring Ginsburg over language about her dying wish MORE (D-N.Y.) then held a press conference to put pressure on McConnell to allow a vote on the legislation in the upper chamber.

Pelosi also announced that Congress will receive a briefing on election security on July 10, but did not offer further details.

On Friday, seven freshman House Democrats announced the creation of “Task Force Sentry,” with the lawmakers teaming up to protect elections from interference.

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Besides Klobuchar, other Senate Democrats are also attempting to force votes on election security bills.

Sen. Mark Warner Mark Robert WarnerFBI director casts doubt on concerns over mail-in voting fraud Democrats call for declassifying election threats after briefing by Trump officials It's time to upgrade benefits MORE (D-Va.) tried to pass a bill that would require campaigns to report contacts with foreign nationals looking to interfere in elections, but it was blocked by Sen. Marsha Blackburn Marsha BlackburnHillicon Valley: Subpoenas for Facebook, Google and Twitter on the cards | Wray rebuffs mail-in voting conspiracies | Reps. raise mass surveillance concerns Key Democrat opposes GOP Section 230 subpoena for Facebook, Twitter, Google Senate panel threatens subpoena for Google, Facebook and Twitter executives MORE (R-Tenn.) last week.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told The Hill this week that he would be open to taking a similar approach, forcing a unanimous consent vote on a bill he has sponsored that would criminalize the hacking of voting machines.



Blumenthal’s Defending the Integrity of Voting Systems Act is also sponsored by Sens. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse Sheldon WhitehouseThe Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Feinstein 'surprised and taken aback' by suggestion she's not up for Supreme Court fight Hillicon Valley: Murky TikTok deal raises questions about China's role | Twitter investigating automated image previews over apparent algorithmic bias | House approves bill making hacking federal voting systems a crime MORE (D-R.I), and was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in May.

Additional election security funding also seems to be a sticking point for Republicans.

This week, the House approved the fiscal year 2020 Financial Services and General Government funding bill with a provision granting the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) $600 million that would be handed over to states to shore up their voting infrastructure.

The bill comes after Congress appropriated $380 million to the EAC last year for the same purpose.

However, this year's bill has little chance of being approved by the Senate. Sen. John Kennedy John Neely KennedyMORE (R-La.), the chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over this funding bill, told reporters this week that he is “very, very skeptical about the wisdom of including” the $600 million in funding to states.

“I admire their zeal, but I’m not certain about their wisdom,” Kennedy said of House efforts to pass election security funding.