Peters & Colleagues Urge DHS to Help State and Local Governments Improve Election Security

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, helped lead a group of 13 senators to urge the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to help states effectively use funding from the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program and the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) to improve election security.

“We write to urge the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take steps to ensure that state and local governments are able to effectively use funds from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) and the new State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program to enhance election security. In order to help facilitate this, we request that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency inform state and local election officials of the ways both grant programs could be used to enhance election security,” wrote the senators.

The senators continued: “As states continue to administer the 2022 midterm elections and prepare for the 2024 federal election cycle, it is imperative that the federal government continue to invest in bolstering election security and ensure that state and local governments have resources to modernize their election infrastructure and protect against threats to cybersecurity and physical security,”

As Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters has led efforts to help state and local governments secure their information technology systems, including election systems. As a part of the bipartisan infrastructure law – Peters secured $1 billion to help state, local, tribal, and territorial modernize their systems. The Senate has also passed Peters’ bipartisan bill to promote stronger cybersecurity coordination between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and state and local governments. Peters’ bipartisan bill to strengthen local government cybersecurity defenses by encouraging adoption of the .gov domain for websites and email accounts was signed into law last Congress. Peters has also cosponsored legislation to protect the right to vote and ensure election workers can do their jobs safely.

Full text of the letter can be found here.

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