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js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"24.59477124183\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"33.324324324324\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/state-local-officials-election-security-funding-hava-congress\/\"> <span>Election Security<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> 150 active and retired officials from across the country asked Senate and House appropriations leaders to set aside $400 million for the next fiscal year. <\/p>\n<p>  <br \/>\n<audio id=\"audio-player\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-tts-cdn.api.scpnewsgrp.com\/cyberscoop\/84478\/english.openai.mp3\"><\/audio> <\/p>\n<div readability=\"11\">\n<div>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p>0:00<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>  <\/p>\n<p> <span id=\"tts-tooltip\">Learn more.<\/span> <span> This feature uses an automated voice, which may result in occasional errors in pronunciation, tone, or sentiment. <\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/state-and-local-election-officials-plead-with-congress-for-election-security-funding.jpg?resize=640%2C427&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/state-and-local-election-officials-plead-with-congress-for-election-security-funding-2.jpg 2119w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/state-and-local-election-officials-plead-with-congress-for-election-security-funding-2.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/state-and-local-election-officials-plead-with-congress-for-election-security-funding-2.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/state-and-local-election-officials-plead-with-congress-for-election-security-funding-2.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/state-and-local-election-officials-plead-with-congress-for-election-security-funding-2.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, 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https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/state-and-local-election-officials-plead-with-congress-for-election-security-funding-2.jpg?resize=1263,843 1263w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1012px) 100vw, 1012px\"><figcaption> (Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"36.627906976744\"><body readability=\"73.773099060891\"><\/p>\n<p>As the Trump administration takes a hatchet to the federal government\u2019s election security work and attempts to place conditions on funding to states, state and local election officials are pleading with lawmakers to provide robust support they say is crucial to keeping American elections secure.<\/p>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/modernizeourelections.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/FY26-Letter-from-Local-Election-Officials.pdf\">letter<\/a> sent to leaders on the House and Senate Appropriations committees this week, 150 active and retired officials from across the country asked Congress to set aside $400 million next fiscal year for election security grant funding under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe federal government shares with state and local governments the responsibility to overcome funding shortfalls in the most essential charge our government carries: to ensure safe, secure, and effective elections,\u201d the officials wrote. \u201cYet, Congress has recently provided inconsistent and insufficient funding to meet these requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>HAVA, passed by Congress in 2002, has funneled billions of dollars to states over the past two decades, which have been used to replace older voting machines, conduct security training for staff, harden physical and digital protections for election systems and polling locations, and other improvements.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But in recent years the program\u2019s funding has dried up substantially, and GOP leaders on the Hill have indicated waning support for the initiative. While the Biden administration<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eac.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2024-03\/US_EAC_FY_2025_Congressional_Budget_Justification.pdf\"> requested $300 million<\/a> for HAVA grants last year, Congress has approved just $70 million to states over the past two budget cycles.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, House Appropriations Chair Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., and other Republicans on the committee voted to zero out funding for HAVA grants while also dramatically slashing the budget of the Election Assistance Commission, the bipartisan agency responsible for disbursing the grant money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile [prior] funding has been welcome, it falls far short of the substantial and sustained investment necessary to ensure that all eligible Americans can exercise their fundamental right to vote,\u201d the state officials continued.<\/p>\n<p>HAVA grants follow a strict formula based on the size and population of every state, but election officials are also asking that Congress adjust the program to ensure that more money trickles down to local jurisdictions that often face even harsher budget constraints when it comes to funding election security improvements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn addition to the funding request above, we also urge you to include a requirement that two-thirds of future funding allocations be passed through directly to localities, to ensure that counties and municipalities have the resources they need to run safe and secure elections, regardless of their size and population,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As state election officials press Congress, the Trump administration has been searching for ways to cut off HAVA funding for states that don\u2019t implement their preferred election policies.Election experts have told CyberScoop that the executive branch has no constitutional authority to dictate election rules to states, and a federal court <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/elections-white-house-executive-order-court-proof-of-citizenship-requirements\/\">rolled back<\/a> some of the provisions in a March<a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/trump-election-executive-order-sparks-backlash-from-critics\/\"> executive order<\/a>, though the White House and the Democratic and civil groups suing have all said they intend to pursue the matter further on appeal.<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\" readability=\"3.7333333333333\">\n<div class=\"author-card\" readability=\"13\">\n<div class=\"author-card__avatar\">\n<figure class=\"author-card__image-wrap\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"author-card__image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/state-and-local-election-officials-plead-with-congress-for-election-security-funding-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1\" alt=\"Derek B. Johnson\"> <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><h4 class=\"author-card__name\">Written by Derek B. Johnson<\/h4>\n<p> Derek B. Johnson is a reporter at CyberScoop, where his beat includes cybersecurity, elections and the federal government. Prior to that, he has provided award-winning coverage of cybersecurity news across the public and private sectors for various publications since 2017. Derek has a bachelor\u2019s degree in print journalism from Hofstra University in New York and a master\u2019s degree in public policy from George Mason University in Virginia. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"popular-stories popular-stories--single-post\">\n<div class=\"popular-stories__container\">\n<h2 class=\"popular-stories__title\"> More Scoops <\/h2>\n<p>  <\/div>\n<p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <\/p>\n<section class=\"latest-podcasts\">\n<h2 class=\"latest-podcasts__title\"> Latest Podcasts\t<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"top-categories\">\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Government<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"top-categories__container\">\n<h3 class=\"top-categories__category-title\">Technology<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/main> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--bottom \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"interstitial\" class=\"welcome__container\"> <button id=\"close-modal-1\" class=\"welcome__clickable_area\"><\/button> <\/p>\n<div class=\"welcome__ad_wrapper\">\n<p> <button id=\"close-modal-3\" class=\"welcome__continue-button\">Continue to CyberScoop<\/button> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>   <\/body> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/state-local-officials-election-security-funding-hava-congress\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>State and local election officials plead with Congress for election<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[655,292,117,3075,4247],"tags":[657,298,119,3078,4248],"class_list":["post-7631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress","category-election-security","category-government","category-grants","category-hava","tag-congress","tag-election-security","tag-government","tag-grants","tag-hava"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","chromenews-featured":"","chromenews-large":"","chromenews-medium":""},"author_info":{"display_name":"Cyber Scoop","author_link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/author\/cyberscoop\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/congress\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Congress<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/election-security\/\" rel=\"category tag\">election security<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/government\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Government<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/grants\/\" rel=\"category tag\">grants<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/hava\/\" rel=\"category tag\">HAVA<\/a>","tag_info":"HAVA","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7631\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":7631,"date":"2025-05-13T09:32:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T14:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=84478"},"modified":"2025-05-13T09:32:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-13T14:32:02","slug":"state-and-local-election-officials-plead-with-congress-for-election-security-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2025\/05\/13\/state-and-local-election-officials-plead-with-congress-for-election-security-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"State and local election officials plead with Congress for election security funding"},"content":{"rendered":"