Republicans block election security laws despite Mueller’s warning over Russian interference

Trump ally dismisses bills to shore up outdated voting systems as ‘partisan’

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked two votes on election security laws on Thursday, in spite of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s warning of ongoing Russian interference the day before.

Mr McConnell shot down Democratic requests to pass one bill authorising $775m (£623m) to beef up state election systems, and another requiring political candidates, their families and campaigners to report offers of help from foreign countries to the FBI.

On the same day, a Senate Intelligence committee report concluded voting systems in all 50 states were targeted in 2016 and that “top election vulnerabilities remained”.

State election officials are reportedly anxious and underfunded, some relying upon systems with outdated software and scrounging for replacement parts from eBay, but there appears to be no help coming from Congress.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who raised the first vote, called inaction by Congress a “disgrace” and pledged to keep pushing for reforms and funding. Mr Mueller’s testimony “should be a wake-up call”, he said.

GOP leaders made the case that the Trump administration has already made great strides in protecting the vote and argued that no more funding is needed.

It is a risky calculation heading into 2020, when the stakes will be high for an election that could see record turnout as Donald Trump runs for a second term. Primary voting is six months away.

Thursday’s intelligence report warned “more money will be needed” and encouraged states to ”take urgent steps to replace outdated and vulnerable voting systems”.

The House is pushing other bills targeting fake ads and cyber intrusions, while Congress has already unanimously approved one bipartisan measure making interference in elections a violation of immigration law, and another making it a federal crime to hack elections systems.

But Democrats – and some Republicans – say Congress must do more.

The most pressing issue is replacing electronic voting machines that do not produce a paper record of each ballot cast that is verified by the voter and can later be audited.

In 2018, 10 states had more than half of their jurisdictions using machines without a paper trail, which cybersecurity experts have warned are vulnerable to hacking and must be replaced.

Even if Congress were immediately to send funds to states to replace voting equipment, it would be difficult to make substantial upgrades in time for the 2020 elections. It can take months to decide on replacement machines, develop security protocols, train workers and test the equipment.

However, Mr McConnell dismissed the bill to allocate more funds and shore up voting systems on Thursday as “not a serious effort”, in that it came from Democrats who spent the past two years “hyping” Mr Mueller’s investigation.

It wasn’t the first time McConnell had put the brakes on election security efforts.

In 2018, the Kentucky Republican halted a bipartisan effort to improve state election systems, which would have required all states to conduct post-election audits and to use paper ballots as a backup to electronic systems in order to qualify for federal funding.

Part of the problem is longstanding tensions between states and the federal government over election systems that are only beginning to smooth.

State officials historically run elections and many, particularly those in the South, are wary about federal intervention. Tensions flared ahead of the 2016 election when federal officials warning of potential interference wanted to declare election systems as critical infrastructure. Some states resisted.

In an acknowledgement of those tensions, Mr McConnell said any efforts must be done with “extreme care and on a thoroughly bipartisan basis”.

But time to act is in short supply. Underscoring the urgency of the matter, minority leader Chuck Schumer read Mr Mueller’s Wednesday testimony aloud to his Republican counterpart.

“They’re doing it as we sit here, and they expect to do it in the next campaign.”

Additional reporting by AP