In Wake of Mueller Report, Tulsi Gabbard Works to Secure Future Elections
Nothing has the potential to destroy democracy more thoroughly than a contested election. With the legitimacy of the 2016 election questioned because of suspected meddling from Russia, the Mueller Investigation became a central focus for over 2 years. Though some had hoped the Mueller Report would end with an indictment of the president or even impeachment, this would do nothing to secure future elections. The only way to secure our elections moving forward is through meaningful legislative reforms. Fortunately Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has taken lead in this area by introducing the Securing America’s Elections Act (H.R. 1946)which protects the country’s election infrastructure from cyber-hackers by requiring the use of voter-verified paper ballots or a paper ballot backup in federal elections.
A particularly alarming hack was carried out at the DEFCON hackathon conference over the weekend by an 11-year-old boy. He managed to hack into an imitation Florida state voting website and change the results of the “election” in fewer than 10 minutes. -Time Magazine
A Legitimate Concern for the Possibility of Hacked Elections: Each year thousands of IT Professionals, Cyber-Security Experts, Hackers and Government Agencies all gather at Defcon in Las Vegas to learn about cutting edge hacking research from the most brilliant minds in the world and test their skills in hacking contests. In the summer of 2018, an 11-year-old named Emmett Brewer accessed a replica of the Florida secretary of state’s website in less than 10 minutes! Nico Sell, the co-founder of the the non-profit r00tz Asylum stated, “These are very accurate replicas of all of the sites. These things should not be easy enough for an 8-year-old kid to hack within 30 minutes, it’s negligent for us as a society.” according to PBS. The hackers were also able to manipulate party names, candidate names, and vote count totals.
2016 A Warning and an Opportunity: Hacking American voting machines is only part of the problem. The mere undermining of faith in our election system has the potential to dramatically erode confidence in our democracy. Throughout history revolutions and civil wars have occured as the result of contested election results. Of all the issues we face, restoring faith is as simple as taking measures to secure future elections with paper ballots & robust software. We receive a receipt when we buy groceries, why not verify our votes in the same manner?
According to the Department of Homeland Security, 21 U.S. states’ electoral systems were the targets of attempted hacking in the 2016 election... If these insecurities in our infrastructure are successfully exploited by those who seek to manipulate the results, this poses a serious threat to our democracy. -Tulsi Gabbard
Secure Elections are a Non-Partisan Issue: Many of us are aware of issues with political parties purging voters, gerrymandering, Super Delegates, and issues with the Electoral College yet none of these issues can be addressed if we do not first secure the vote. We are at a critical point in history where it is fair to say that any representative who is not 100% behind securing the American Vote should be scrutinized. A contested vote is damaging to BOTH parties as it questions the legitimacy of our leaders which then erodes faith in our democracy at a core level.
“Common Cause appreciates Congresswoman Gabbard’s efforts, as well as the efforts of other Members of Congress, to secure our elections against malicious attacks. The Securing America’s Elections Act would help protect our elections by requiring the use of a voter-verified paper ballot, which would help prevent foreign entities from trying to undermine our democracy.” -Aaron Scherb, Director of Legislative Affairs with Common Cause
Good for Democracy, Good for America: Voter confidence in the security of our elections also plays a major role in voter-turnout. When people do not feel that their vote is counted, they are less likely to vote. In 2017, the State of Virginia moved to a voter-verified paper ballot system. As a result they did not receive a single complaint questioning the integrity of the 2017 election while also producing the highest voter turnout in two decades!
Take Action! Democracy is a participatory sport, and your voice is critical to addressing the issues of our day. Getting involved is quite simple… Become a Citizen Sponsor by visiting here, and then take 5 minutes to call your representatives at 202–225–3121 and urging them to support H.R. 1946, Securing America’s Elections Act introduced by Tulsi Gabbard. The Securing America’s Elections Act would authorize emergency funding to empower every state to use voter-verified paper ballots that produce an auditable paper trail which is something that should be a priority no matter which party affiliation American Voters align with.
United Does not Mean we Agree on Every Issue: We are the United States, yet we are more divided than we have ever been. There are many divisive issues and all Americans should be able to speak their voice regardless of their opinion. This is what all of us value about our country and the democratic principles that guide us. Without secure elections, all of us will lose this precious liberty. Despite our many differences as a nation, there will always be things that we should be able to agree on and secure, transparent elections should be at the top of that list!