WASHINGTON – U.S. Representatives Kathleen Rice (NY-04) and Elise Stefanik (NY-21) sent a bipartisan letter to President Trump today urging him to appoint an Election Security Coordinator within the Executive Office of the President (EOP) to oversee and organize all U.S. election security efforts across the federal government.
There is no doubt that the Russian government executed a wide-spread campaign to interfere in the 2016 elections and undermine the American public’s faith in our democratic process. There is also overwhelming evidence that Russia is actively trying to interfere in the upcoming 2018 midterms. With these elections just four months away, we need to have a centralized approach to countering this threat. Currently, there are multiple federal agencies, task forces and commissions working to counter foreign interference and electronic hacking in our elections, but there is no formal government entity responsible for facilitating interagency coordination or ensuring government-wide information sharing and cooperation. The threat of continued election interference is urgent and real, and these agencies cannot do their jobs effectively if they are working in a silo. An Election Security Coordinator would consolidate our election security strategy and bring federal agencies together to combat all forms of election meddling in an organized and concerted manner.
Their letter can be found here.
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