Issue Position: Election Security
Issue Position
In the 2018 Legislative Session, I led the effort to secure Maryland elections and our democracy from foreign interference.
Prior to the 2016 Election, Russia attempted to hack Maryland's voter registration system. Russia purchased 250 Facebook ads targeted at our State to exploit local issues, such as the death of Freddie Gray. Most recently, we learned that Russian investors, including an oligarch with ties to President Putin, bought an ownership state in a Maryland election vendor in 2015. It is clear that our election systems have been under attack by the Russians, and while the federal government has refused to provide adequate protections from foreign interference, I have led the effort to address the cybersecurity vulnerabilities in Maryland's election systems.
In the 2018 Legislative Session I sponsored and passed legislation to make Maryland one of the first states in the country to require online platforms -- such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google -- to retain and disclose information on online political ads.
We are facing a brave new world -- not in terms of traditional advertising -- but in the new forms of advertising we saw in the 2016 election cycle. We saw ads that no one could trace because no one knew who was purchasing them and they had no authority lines. These ads included attacks and blatantly false information from foreign actors.
My legislation will send a clear message that we will not tolerate attempts by foreign governments to manipulate our democracy and interfere in our elections. Click here to read more about my legislation in the Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun. To read the full text of the bill -- HB981 -- Online Electioneering Transparency and Accountability Act -- click HERE.
I also made sure that HB981 did not violate or infringe upon the 1st Amendment in terms of the disclosure requirements for the online platforms that run political ads. Click HERE to read a letter from the Maryland Attorney General's Office defending the constitutionality of my legislation. You can also listen HERE to my explanation and defense of HB981 on the Kojo Nmamdi Show!
Source