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S. 2261 115th Congress Senate

Secure Elections Act

Official title: A bill to protect the administration of Federal elections against cybersecurity threats.

Introduced: December 21, 2017 Introduced by: James Lankford Republican · Oklahoma See on congress.gov
Government Operations and Politics Accounting and auditingAdvisory bodiesComputer security and identity theftCongressional oversight
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Department of Homeland SecurityElections, voting, political campaign regulationGovernment ethics and transparency, public corruptionGovernment information and archivesGovernment studies and investigationsIntelligence activities, surveillance, classified informationIntergovernmental relationsPublic participation and lobbyingRight of privacySanctionsState and local government operationsSubversive activitiesTechnology assessment
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This bill died when the 115th Congress ended
It never became law before the 115th Congress (2017–2018) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jun 20, 2018
Committee on Rules and Administration. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-648.
Dec 21, 2017
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Dec 21, 2017
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action June 20, 2018

Committee on Rules and Administration. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 115-648.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Secure Elections Act

This bill gives the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) primary responsibility within the federal government for sharing information about election cybersecurity incidents, threats, and vulnerabilities with federal entities and election agencies.

DHS shall establish an advisory panel of independent experts to develop guidelines on election cybersecurity, including standards for procuring, maintaining, testing, auditing, operating, and updating election systems.

DHS shall award election system cybersecurity and modernization grants to states to implement the advisory panel's guidelines. Grants shall be awarded to: (1) remediate vulnerabilities identified by a cybersecurity evaluation, (2) replace electronic voting systems that are not optical scanners that read paper ballots, and (3) reimburse states for the inspection of marked paper ballots.

DHS shall establish a Hack the Election program, including a recurring competition, to facilitate and encourage the identification and reporting of election cybersecurity vulnerabilities by independent technical experts.

 Related & companion bills 3
  • S 2593 Secure Elections Act
  • HR 6188 Prevent Election Hacking Act of 2018
  • HR 6663 Secure Elections Act
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Cosponsors 4
All 4 Democratic 2 Republican 2
R
Collins, Susan M.
Maine · Dec 21, 2017
 R
Graham, Lindsey
South Carolina · Dec 21, 2017
 D
Heinrich, Martin
New Mexico · Dec 21, 2017
 D
Klobuchar, Amy
Minnesota · Dec 21, 2017
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 2261: Secure Elections Act. 115th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/115-S-2261/
MLA
"S. 2261: Secure Elections Act." 115th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/115-S-2261/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 2261, 115th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/115-S-2261/.
Markdown link
[S. 2261: Secure Elections Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/115-S-2261/)
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