WASHINGTON – Congressman David Valadao (CA-22) and Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) reintroduced the Strengthening Election Cybersecurity to Uphold Respect for Elections through Independent Testing (SECURE IT) Act. This bipartisan bill would require that voting systems undergo simulated cyberattacks as part of their standard certification process to help bolster the security of our election systems from foreign and domestic bad actors.

“Ensuring trust in our nation’s elections is vital, and in order for people to have confidence in our democratic process, we need to be doing everything we can to secure any vulnerabilities,” said Congressman Valadao. “The SECURE IT Act would proactively help discover potential flaws in our electoral system by outlining robust system security check requirements, and I’m proud to help lead this bipartisan effort to strengthen our election infrastructure.”

“We’ve got to do everything we can to shore up America’s cybersecurity and voting systems and help make sure they remain strong and secure,” said Congressman Deluzio. “I’m proud that this bipartisan bill will help identify and fix voting system vulnerabilities and conduct important system testing. We must make sure America’s democratic infrastructure can weather any and all attacks from our adversaries.”

Background:

The security of America’s election infrastructure is central to maintaining voters’ confidence in the democratic process. While federal law requires the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to test and certify voting system hardware and software, current regulations under the Help America Vote Act of 2002 do not explicitly mandate penetration testing—a key cybersecurity practice that helps identify system vulnerabilities. The SECURE IT Act strengthens election security by directing the EAC to incorporate penetration testing into its certification process and establish a voluntary coordinated vulnerability disclosure program, enabling independent researchers to examine election systems for potential cybersecurity risks.

Read the full bill here.

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