Republicans Concerned About Nonprofit Involved With Election Security

During the 2020 election, many Americans on both sides of the political fence spoke out about election security and integrity. In 2016, foreign hackers managed to breach multiple state election databases. Though they weren’t able to alter votes, that didn’t stop Progressives from claiming otherwise. In response to concerns on both sides of the aisle, the government has started to push state and local officials to get serious about cybersecurity, but Republicans are concerned about one of the nonprofits helping out.

In February, Pew Trusts reported the federal government was pushing cybersecurity ahead of the election. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly advised local and state officials to replace outdated cybersecurity software. She also told them to use the federal resources available to them.

According to Just The News, the government is offering to pay for cybersecurity services through the nonprofit Center for Internet Security (CIS). The Department of Homeland Security pays for the services and issued a statement explaining it was doing so “[p]ursuant to direction from Congress” it has a “cooperative agreement” with the nonprofit.

That directive from Congress came in the form of a bipartisan bill known as the State and Local Government Cybersecurity Act of 2021. However, CIS allegedly has ties to the federal government’s efforts to flag misinformation on social media platforms.

House Administration Committee Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) told Just The News that he believes the federal government should be supporting “state and local election officials.” But he doesn’t think Homeland Security should be running it. Instead, Steil said the efforts should be led by the nonpartisan Election Assistance Commission.

Meanwhile, House Subcommittee on Elections Chair Laurel Lee (R-FL) was against the federal government getting involved in local elections. She explained the Constitution mandates states oversee their elections, not the feds.