If people are convinced that an election result is illegitimate--no matter how baseless that claim may be--we have seen first-hand the violence it can produce.

Unfortunately, the aftermath of the 2020 election demonstrated that even when an election is highly secure, misinformation can produce devastating consequences for our democratic system of government.

The best way to attack a lie is with the truth. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me in supporting CISA's efforts to prebunk and debunk the kind of disinformation that erodes our democracy.

Despite multiple requests by the committee Democrats to hold hearings on election security, the Republican Chairman largely declined to do so.

This is a major existential threat to our democracy, and I look forward to hearing from this panel to see how we might start to rebuild faith in democratic institutions.

Good afternoon. I would like to thank the witnesses for participating in today's hearing on how we can secure our democracy against threats to election systems, as well as efforts to undermine voter confidence and faith in democratic institutions.

That achievement speaks volumes about the hard work of election officials throughout the country and the potential to protect our elections when we collaborate to prioritize security.

We must build on this progress by investing additional resources in election security, replacing paperless voting machines with paper ballots, conducting evidence-based post-election audits, and ensuring the highest security standards for voter registration databases, electronic poll books, and other election technology.

We have not been able to enact this important legislation, but we will continue to fight, as the consequences of failure on this issue are simply too high.

After the 2016 election, a Senate Intelligence Committee report found that Black Americans in urban areas were disproportionately targeted on social media with false reports and conspiracy theories meant to propagate distrust in our democratic institutions.

This is a major concern of mine when it comes to safeguarding our democracy and stopping the spread of online misinformation aimed at marginalized groups.