Conservative watchdog groups are recommending that states pocket some of the $75 million in federal grants to ensure the integrity of the November midterm elections.
"As Americans are losing confidence in the fairness, integrity, and security of their vote, redoubling our commitment to secure elections cannot come soon enough," a letter sent to Leslie Reynolds of the National Association for Secretaries of State from the groups read.
"We, the undersigned organizations, urge every state to prioritize these funds for election security by implementing new election integrity provisions many states have adopted in the past year," the letter said.
It was signed by Jason Snead of Honest Elections Project Action, Jessica Anderson of Heritage Action, Ken Blackwell of America First Works, and Ken Cuccinelli of the Election Transparency Initiative.
Each state qualifies for a minimum of $1 million in funding, as part of the continuing Help America Vote Act and states must match 20%.
During the 2020 election, a number of outside organizations – including two supported by Mark Zuckerberg, of Facebook – funneled millions into state election offices, with funds disproportionately going to Democrat jurisdictions. The groups said they hope the grant money will increase voter confidence in the integrity of elections.
According to the watchdog groups, states should prioritize increasing voter confidence, cleaning up voter rolls and protecting ballots.
"We urge this latest round of federal funds be devoted to improving the security and transparency of elections," they said in the letter.
A Rasmussen Reports poll conducted at the beginning of March found that 83% of likely U.S. voters believe that election integrity will be an important issue in the November midterm elections. Fifty-four percent of voters believe cheating likely affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, according to the survey.
Other measures the groups would like to see implemented include enhancing cybersecurity, investigations into malfeasance by election officials and voter fraud investigations, among others.
"We urge you to meet the challenge of declining confidence in elections with a renewed focus on the security and transparency of our elections," the groups said. "After all, the American people want it to be easy to vote and hard to cheat."
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