MN Sec of State Simon optimistic after $6.6 million federal election security bill moves through key committee

A bill authorizing Minnesota access to $6.6 million in federal funds for election security today passed out of a key committee at the State Capitol. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon says being without the money has made the state vulnerable and adds “Minnesota is now the only state out of all 50 states not to get its portion of the federal money that Congress allocated last year to the states for election security. Getting this money as soon as possible means we can make up for lost time.” Simon says “the reason we’re even having this conversation has to do with the 2016 election, where Minnesota was one of the 21 states targeted by a foreign government. The good news is no one got in, and there were no problems in 2016 .” Simon adds that he’s “really heartened that the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority leader, though they are from opposite chambers and opposite political parties, have both explicitly mentioned this bill as one of the things that can get done early in the legislative session, I take them at their word.” Simon says the money will be used to upgrade and modernize the statewide voter registration system. The measure to get the federal funds were part of a larger bill that was vetoed by the governor last year. Here is more with Secretary of State Simon: