House panel approves $600M in budget to upgrade election security

June 4 (UPI) -- Exactly 17 months before the 2020 U.S. elections, a House subcommittee approved a bill Monday that would spend $600 million on increased security for voting systems across the United States.

On a voice vote, the appropriations subcommittee passed the bill as part of the $25 billion 2020 federal budget allocation and sent it to the full panel for consideration. Democrats on the committee have stressed the need for more security, due to widespread Russian interference that targeted the presidential campaign three years ago. The U.S. intelligence community and Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller have both said Moscow was behind major efforts to influence the vote.

"[Mueller] detailed the Russian efforts and specified that they were designed and timed to interfere and damage a presidential candidate," Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley, chairman of the subcommittee, said.

"Robert Mueller concluded by saying that the efforts by a foreign government to interfere in our election, 'deserves the attention of every American.' I couldn't agree more."

The subcommittee added clauses to the bill requiring the funds be used by states to replace vulnerable voting systems. If passed by the House, the funds could face opposition in the Senate due to other, more controversial elements in the spending bill.

Christy McCormick, chair of the Election Assistance Commission, told the Senate Rules and Administration Committee last month her group needs more money to safeguard the 2020 presidential vote.