On March 6, U.S. Senate Rules Committee Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led a group of 12 Senators in reintroducing the Sustaining Our Democracy Act. If enacted, this legislation would allocate funds directly to county governments to support local election administration. In doing so, this bill would:

• Establish a Democracy Advancement and Innovation Program that would allocate federal funds to each state to carry out “democracy promotion activities” and provide new, mandatory funding over 10 years to carry out the program
• Require a state to submit plans on how it intends to spend these funds and outline how funds will be allocated to political subdivisions, including counties, to carry out these activities
• Allow counties to submit their own plans and be allocated a portion of these funds in cases where states do not submit these plans
• Direct the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to distribute funds directly to local election administrators for activities that approved state plans intend to be administered by local government

In addition to Sens. Klobuchar and Warren, the bill is also cosponsored by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Angus King (I-Maine), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). Although the bill has been reintroduced in the U.S. Senate, a companion bill has not yet been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Sustaining Our Democracy Act was led in the House by Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) in the 117th Congress.

Across the United States, the nation’s 3,069 counties traditionally administer and fund elections at the local level, including overseeing polling places and coordinating poll workers for federal, state and local elections. County election officials work diligently with federal, state and other local election officials to ensure the safety and security of our voting systems. County election officials strive to administer elections in a way that is accurate, safe, secure and accessible for all voters.

To safely and fairly administer secure elections, counties support a consistent, predictable and dedicated federal funding stream to assist counties with meeting the significant federal requirements already imposed on local governments administering elections. Federal funding dedicated to election administration should be administered in coordination and in consultation with local governments, including an assurance that a portion of the funding be made available to the discretion of local governments. A consistent federal funding stream would allow counties to prepare for future technology and security updates, recruit, train and retain high-quality individuals that administer elections. Counties will continue to work with our federal partners as they work to craft meaningful election reform.

To read NACo’s full analysis of the Sustaining Our Democracy Act, click here.