House passes election security bill with 1 Republican vote

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed an election security bill in a vote occurring mainly across party lines.

The Securing America's Federal Elections Act passed in the House in a 225-to-184 vote on Thursday, with one Republican, Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), breaking from the rest of his party to vote in favor of it.

The House's bill attempts to strengthen the nation's election security ahead of 2020 with $600 million going toward updating equipment and with new rules requiring the use of paper ballots, as well as for voting machines to not connect to the internet or be made outside of the United States, The Washington Post reports.

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Republicans had voiced objections to the bill prior to Thursday's vote, with Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) arguing against the paper ballot requirement by saying, "Mandating the exclusive use of paper ballots will create longer lines at polling places and can be lost, destroyed or manipulated far easier than electronic voting machines with a paper trail backup," The Hill reports.

Some Republicans also said the bill would interfere with state and local governments, the Post reports, with Davis arguing to The New York Times that it's full of "unfunded and underfunded mandates" that are "not what local election officials in my state asked for."

This, the Times reports, is the first in a series of bills Democrats plan to push in response to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, with another potentially requiring campaigns to report offers of foreign assistance to the FBI.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) ahead of the Thursday vote asked Republicans in the House, "what's wrong with replacing outdated, vulnerable voting equipment?" She also slammed the Republican-controlled Senate, saying they are giving "foreign countries the green light to attack our country." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday told the Times the election security bill is a "nonstarter."