Van Hollen, Collins, Cardin, Rubio Introduce Protect Our Elections Act
Today
U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ben Cardin
(D-Md.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced the Protect
Our Elections Act, which would prohibit foreign adversaries
from owning and controlling the companies supporting American elections. Our
intelligence chiefs have made it clear that hostile foreign actors continue to
work to disrupt our democratic process by any means possible. This common-sense
legislation – with public disclosure and annual reporting – is essential in
ensuring that our elections are free from foreign influence.
In
Maryland, for example, the FBI found that a Russian oligarch with close ties to
Vladimir Putin was heavily invested in the software vendor that maintained key
parts of the state’s election infrastructure. The Department of Homeland
Security found that no information was compromised, and the state has now ended
its relationship with ByteGrid and is using an American-owned company that has
been reviewed by federal law enforcement. But the fact remains that this should
have never happened – and cannot be allowed to happen in the future.
“Our
free and fair elections are central to what makes America’s democracy an
example to the world. We cannot allow Russia or any other foreign adversaries
to own our election systems,” said Senator Van Hollen, who has written to the Committee
on Foreign Investment in the United States to review the issue in Maryland and
introduced bipartisan
sanctions legislation to deter future attacks on American
elections.
“While Maryland’s systems were ultimately not compromised, it reinforced that
this is a real issue we must address. The bipartisan Protect Our Elections Act
would take simple but critical steps to ensure that the nuts and bolts of our
elections are secure.”
“We
cannot allow the Russians or any foreign adversary to interfere with our
elections, the cornerstone of our democracy,” said Senator Collins.
“This commonsense bill would help strengthen the integrity of our election
process and instill confidence among voters by requiring election infrastructure
vendors to be owned and controlled by American citizens or our closest allies.”
“Elections
are a cornerstone of the rule of law in America and foreign governments and
adversaries will keep attacking our election systems and work to undermine
Americans’ faith in their government and the sanctity of the results of free
and fair elections,” said Senator Cardin, author of a Senate
Foreign Relations Committee report on Russian President Putin’s continuing
assault on democratic institutions and the rule of law. He has introduced
the bipartisan Defending American
Security from Kremlin Aggression Act to hold Russia
accountable and strengthen America’s defenses. “All levels of
government must implement immediate safeguards to preserve the security and
integrity of America’s ballot box, whether it is a paper or electronic ballot.”
“The
Protect our Elections Act is a common sense measure that seeks to protect our
elections from foreign interference,” Senator Rubio said. “Hostile
foreign actors have attempted to disrupt our electoral process and attack our
democracy in the past, and our intelligence community continues to warn of this
ongoing threat. This bipartisan bill would take an important step in ensuring
hostile foreign entities are not able to take an ownership stake in companies
that are crucial in our electoral process.”
The
Protection Our Elections Act contains two central provisions:
- Mandates disclosure of foreign ownership or control: The bill requires the companies that provide elections services to report to the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Election Assistance Commission, and appropriate state or local governmental entities any foreign national who owns or controls their firm. It also requires elections service providers to notify the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Election Assistance Commission, and appropriate state or local governmental entities of any material change in ownership or control. It mandates a $20,000 fine for any election service provider that fails to submit the required information.
- Prohibition on foreign ownership and control of elections systems: The bill requires state and local governments to conduct an annual evaluation of their election service providers to ensure that each election service provider is solely owned and controlled by U.S. persons. The legislation includes an exception for election service providers created or organized under the laws of our Five Eyes allies – Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
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