Press Release

November 29, 2018
Cardin Responds to Clean Federal Audit of Maryland Election Systems
Calls for Congress to immediately enact legislation to further protect state and local election boards from foreign meddling

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) released the following statement upon news that the Department of Homeland Security has concluded its audit of the Maryland Board of Elections systems.

“It is a great relief that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security audit of the Maryland State Board of Elections found that no compromise has occurred on the networks or related election infrastructure.  However, as we turn the page from the 2018 elections to 2020, we know that our adversaries are continuing their coordinated, ongoing campaigns to influence Americans elections and undermine confidence in our democracy. 

“Congress should take immediate steps to bring greater transparency to America’s election systems, including passage of my Elections Systems Integrity Act (S. 3572), which would require disclosure of foreign ownership of election service providers. Additional federal resources should be provided to state and local boards of election to harden their election infrastructure, reduce their cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and upgrade and replace outdated election systems. Finally, the Trump Administration must aggressively use the tools provided by Congress in the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process to address growing national security concerns over foreign exploitation of investments in critical infrastructure.”

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