New York— April 17, 2020
As the drumbeat for increased congressional funding for elections grows louder, a group of advocates are demanding that any spending bill include specific accountability language to ensure funds are spent as intended and where most needed. In an open letter to congressional leaders, SMART Elections, and over 50 other election protection groups, election experts and concerned advocates warn that flooding election administrators with a tsunami of funding without careful public oversight could actually do more harm than good.
The latest call for increased spending comes from Senator Kamala Harris, who is proposing five billion dollars to fund elections during the pandemic. The letter points out, “The last time Congress allocated close to four billion dollars for elections, in 2002 with the Help America Vote Act, there was insufficient oversight. Funds were often used to purchase outdated, insecure electronic voting systems that undermined security, accuracy, reliability, and confidence. We cannot afford to repeat that mistake.”
Jennifer Cohn, an attorney and advocate with over one hundred thousand Twitter followers who signed the letter, reported in a comprehensive 2019 article on the ways that election funding has been misappropriated over the years. In the article, she raised alarms about congressional spending patterns saying, "Congress appears poised to fund another generation of risky touchscreen voting machines called universal use Ballot Marking Devices (or BMDs)." The article provides insight into how voting machine vendors have made contributions, given gifts and sponsored trips for election officials in major swing states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina, as well as New York, South Carolina and Texas. When election officials across the country have such cozy relationships with vendors, there is no way to allocate funding safely unless it comes with strict requirements on how the funds can be spent.
The AP mirrored Cohn's reporting, saying election officials, "are opting for pricier technology that computer security experts consider almost as risky as earlier discredited electronic systems."
Says Lulu Friesdat, Co-Founder of SMART Elections, "We need to think of election funding in the same way that historically we've approached pre-clearance for state election procedures. Many jurisdictions have made poor financial decisions in the past, especially when purchasing expensive technology. Because of that, we need elections expenditures to meet common sense standards showing funds are being well-spent." Friesdat articulated her concerns about the dangers of unrestricted election funding previously in a Senate Briefing and an op-ed at The Hill.
The open letter was written with the guidance of current and former election officials, as well as election, security, and auditing experts. It acknowledges that states need more resources, and that the use of absentee ballot voting and vote-by-mail must be increased to address health concerns. But the advocates urge that critical requirements be attached to federal election funding, including the following:
The advocates emphasize that these measures are necessary "to ensure the safe, secure, accurate, transparent and trustworthy administration of U.S. elections."
It is signed by the following groups, experts and advocates:
SMART Elections
Elevating Election Reform to an Urgent National Priority
Lulu Friesdat, Co-Founder
Holly Mosher, Co-Founder
Jim Soper, Co-Founder
AUDIT Elections USA; John Brakey, Director
Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement
Bennie Smith, Shelby County Election Commissioner*
Candidates With A Contract; Kelley Lane, Board Member
Citizens for Voting Integrity New York; Allegra Dengler, Co-Founder
Citizens’ Oversight Project; Ray Lutz, Executive Director
Center for Common Ground
Courage California; Eddie Kurtz, Executive Director
Courage Campaign
DemCastUSA
Democracy Counts!; Daniel Wolf, CEO
East Valley Indivisibles; Eileen Austen, Leadership Team
ElectionQuality.com; Harvie Branscomb
Election Defense Alliance; Sally Castleman, Chairperson
Election Security/Voters’ Rights Indivisible IL, Rose Colacino, Lead
Gratitude in Motion Fund
Green Party of Alameda County; Xylem Galadhon
Indiana Vote By Mail, Barbara Tully
Indivisible CA33
Indivisible CA-43/Playa del Rey; Vlad Popescu, Leader
Indivisible California Green Team; Jennifer Tanner, Founder
Indivisible Claremont/ Inland Valley; Laurie Pittman, Leadership Member
Indivisible East Bay
Indivisible El Dorado Hills; Nancy Corona-Guzman, Steering Committee
Indivisible NJ 5; Han Broekman, Steering Committee
Indivisible Sacramento
Indivisible San Francisco
Indivisible Santa Barbara; Keith Carlson, Steering Committee
Indivisible SF Peninsula and CA-14
Indivisible Stanislaus; Denise Hunt, Founder, Coordinating Leader
Indivisible Tracy; Yvonne Eder, President
Indivisible Ventura
Indivisible Yolo; Rachel Beck, Chair
IndivisibleWeStand UWS; Andrea Fink, Organizer
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Adam Mason
Jennifer Cohn; Attorney and Election Integrity Advocate
Jonathan D. Simon; Author, Code Red
Livermore Indivisible; Kristine Kansa, Steering Committee
Michigan Election Reform Alliance, Jan BenDor
Mimi Kennedy; Actress and Activist
Money Out Voters In, Michele Sutter, Executive Director
Movement for a People's Party, Suzanne O'Keeffe
National Voting Rights Task Force; Dale Axelrod, Co-Chair
Normal Heights Indivisible (NHI); Mala Wingerd, Activist
Northridge Indivisible; Michelle Fowle, Founder and Chair
People Demanding Action; Andrea Miller, Co-Executive Director
Pinellas Demcratic Party; Sharon Janis, Treasurer
Progressive Democrats of America; Alan Minsky, National Organizer
Secure Elections Network; Stephanie Chaplin Co-Founder and Lead
Scrutineers LLC, Emily Levy, Founder
Stephanie Singer; Hatfield School of Government, Portland State University*
Transparent Elections NC; Lynn Bernstein, Founder
Venice Resistance; Jed Pauker, Founding Board Member
Virginia Martin, Former Democratic Election Commissioner, Columbia County NY*
WESPAC; Nada Khader, Executive Director
Yalla Indivisible; Lulu Hammad, Steering Committee Member
*Affiliation is for identification purposes only and does not signify organizational endorsement.
If your group addresses election reform issues, or you are an academic or election reform advocate and you would like to sign onto the letter please fill out this google form. Thank you!
Copyright © 2021 SMART Elections - All Rights Reserved.