1. United States
2. Colo.
3. Letter

I urge you to immediately investigate and oppose the Trump administration's reported plan to withhold federal election security assistance from states unless they use the DHS SAVE database to purge their voter rolls. Conditioning election security funding on compliance with a controversial voter-roll policy is not election security—it is coercion. These federal resources exist to help states defend against cyberattacks and protect election infrastructure. Threatening to deny those resources to states that refuse to comply makes our elections less secure, not more secure. The SAVE database was not designed for maintaining voter rolls, has been criticized for inaccuracies that could wrongly identify eligible voters, and its use for this purpose is reportedly restricted by a court order. Using federal funding to pressure states into adopting such a system is an abuse of executive power and an intrusion into state election administration. This strategy also appears designed to create a pretext for challenging the legitimacy of election results in states that refuse to comply. Threatening states, demanding changes to their voter rolls, and then casting doubt on elections if they resist is blatant election meddling that undermines public confidence in our democracy. Congress must not allow election security funding to become a political weapon. I urge you to conduct vigorous oversight, oppose any effort to coerce states through funding threats, and take all appropriate legislative and legal action to stop federal interference in state election administration. Our democracy depends on elections that are secure, free, and administered according to the law—not by political intimidation. Please act now to defend the integrity of our elections.