US Lawmakers Concerned Over US Election Security Forces Amid Reported Layoffs - Letter

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2019) US lawmakers want Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to provide answers after media reports suggested that her department's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) is reducing its election security efforts, a letter published on Monday said.

"Recent reports allege that the CISA (has deprioritized election security by reducing the capacity of the election security task forces," Senators Amy Klobuchar, Gary Peters and Dick Durbin said in the letter. "At its peak, how many personnel were assigned to the task forces at CISA before the 2018 election and how many are assigned to the task forces presently?"

The senators requested information from the Department of Homeland Security regarding foreign activity it may have observed in the 2018 midterm elections and steps it is taking to address the 2020 US presidential election.

They asked Nielsen to respond to their questions by March 1.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department and Homeland Security Department said in a joint statement that foreign interference had no impact on election infrastructure during the 2018 midterm elections. The two agencies also said there was no evidence that voting machines - typically not connected to the internet - had been compromised.