On June 12, 2018, a group of U.S. Senate Democrats introduced legislation that would require state and local governments to take steps to deter federal election tampering. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) proposed the “The Protecting American Votes and Elections Act of 2018.”
As written, the bill requires statistically rigorous “risk-limiting” audits and the use of paper ballots for all federal elections—the two steps endorsed by election and cybersecurity professionals as most likely to preserve the integrity of election results and achieve voter confidence that results had not been altered by foreign nations or other hackers.
Risk-limiting audits provide the statistical certainty of accuracy close to that of a full manual recount at a fraction of the cost. The bill requires every federal election to be audited, regardless of how close the final results are. Requiring paper ballots also enables a full manual recount in situations where the audit raises concerns of accuracy. Currently, 22 states do not require any form of post-election audit, and many other states only require it in certain voting precincts.
Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) will introduce companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
