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While the country reels from the news that Donald Trump solicited foreign election interference from the President of Ukraine, Mitch McConnell quietly continues to slow-walk critical election security funding to help protect us in 2020. Just yesterday, during a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Trump's contacts with Ukraine, the Acting Director of National Intelligence affirmed that the greatest national security challenge we face is ensuring the integrity of our elections. In response to this threat, progressives have mobilized. Stand Up America community members have made over 90,000 calls to Congress, urging lawmakers to allocate critical election security funding for states to update outdated election equipment. We won that fight in the House, convincing representatives to pass $600 million in election security funding to help states replace hackable, outdated voting machines with systems that use voter-verified paper ballots. Then we took our fight to the Senate. Stand Up America pressured "Moscow Mitch" by erecting a billboard in his home state, demanding that he end his blockade of all election security funding measures. Our community tweeted, texted, talked to our lawmakers in person, and did everything in our power to make our voices heard. And McConnell couldn't stand the heat. In response to our efforts, he allowed some election security funding -- $250 million -- to pass through the Senate Appropriations Committee, but it has not yet received a full Senate vote. The committee vote was no doubt a win given McConnell's refusal to support any and all election security efforts. But time is of the essence if we want to protect our 2020 elections. Yesterday, the Senate passed a spending bill that does not include one cent in election security funding for the states -- and delays final budget decisions until November. In spite of this setback, we know this is still a fight we can win -- and we'll keep pushing Mitch McConnell to give states the full $600 million they need to update outdated voting machines with systems that use voter-verified paper ballots. This funding is a very small drop in the bucket of the overall federal budget -- but its importance in protecting the 2020 election can't be overstated. After months of pressure, we got Mitch McConnell to give an inch on election security. That means we can absolutely push him further. We owe it to ourselves and our democracy to see this fight through to the end. I'll be in touch soon with where the fight goes from here and how you can take action. Thanks for all you do. Brett Edkins Political Director, Stand Up America
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