The US Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved $250 million in funding for election security at the state level. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee, stated that “funding election security grants is a matter of national security.”
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had initially opposed the bill, but announced that he would support it prior to the panel vote. Democratic lawmakers are also calling for separate legislation to improve election security, such as mandating states to adopt backup paper ballots as a way of mitigating the risk of election systems getting hacked. However, McConnell continues to oppose such measures.
Read more: Key Senate Panel Approves $250 Million for Election Security