At an event in Iowa this past weekend, Senator Joni Ernst tried to mislead her constituents about the fact that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is blocking election security bills from passing through the Senate and even labeled it “misinformation.”
When Ernst’s constituents told her they were baffled by McConnell’s efforts to prevent election security bills from passing in the Senate and specifically to block a measure that would ensure voting machines have paper ballot backups, Ernst replied: “Well, I don’t know that he blocked a bill on that.”
Another audience member then brought up legislation to stop foreign actors from helping Trump in the next election, and Ernst dismissed the comment with: “There’s a lot of misinformation, I think, that exists out there.”
Here are the facts. Last week, McConnell and Senate Republicans blocked two key election security bills which would provide $600 million in election assistance, ensure paper ballot backups, and require campaigns to notify the FBI if they were approached by agents of a foreign government with help.
“Instead of acknowledging the reality that Mitch McConnell is blocking election security measures and leaving our democracy vulnerable to foreign attacks, Senator Ernst misled and even tried to suggest her own constituents were spreading misinformation,” said Stewart Boss, DSCC spokesperson. “Senator Ernst votes with her party leaders in Washington 99% of the time, and she’s carrying water for McConnell on this issue because she’s not looking out for Iowans. Senate Republicans like Joni Ernst are putting our national security at risk and once again failing a fundamental test of independence.”
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