A new bill that would require the Department of Homeland Security to protect the nation’s election system is set to rollout on Sept. 21.
The Election Infrastructure and Security Promotion Act of 2016 would designate election services as a critical infrastructure—a category designated to the nation’s most essential functions and authorizes DHS to provide increased protections.
Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., sponsored the bill and intends to introduce it on Sept. 21, following recent cyber attacks on the Democratic National Committee and the Illinois and Arizona voter databases.
“In the wake of the DNC server hack and well-documented efforts by states to suppress the vote, citizens are rightly concerned,” Johnson said in a statement.
“We must work to reduce the vulnerability of our crucial voting systems, protect the security and integrity of our electoral process, and ensure all Americans have the opportunity to vote.”
DHS currently has 16 critical infrastructure categories, including the financial services, energy, agricultural and commercial facilities sectors.
The agency is required by the Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21): Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience, a 2013 executive order, to collaborate with the critical infrastructure sectors to develop protections and identify threats to guard against.
Johnson’s bill also calls on the National Science Foundation to fund development of open source election technology for stronger electronic voting systems.
The congressman is pairing the infrastructure bill with another piece of legislation, the Election Integrity Act, which would restrict electronic voting machines used to ones that can provide “durable voter-verified paper ballots.”
The measure also calls for security standards on voting machines and sets up protocols in case of an election system failure.
Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson had previously offered states cybersecurity assistance from DHS, but only if requested by the governors of the respective states.
Rep. Johnson plans to debut both bills at 10 a.m. on Sept. 21.
