DENVER — Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold testified Tuesday before a congressional subcommittee in a hearing on combating misinformation in the 2020 general election.
The hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Elections took place virtually.
In her statement, Griswold discussed the threat of foreign interference in elections through misinformation spread online and in social media, and through the hacking and leaking of voter registration data.
"We must ensure that foreign countries do not use social media platforms as a tool to perpetuate public falsehoods about candidates and elections in an attempt to suppress Americans' votes," Griswold said.
During questioning by committee members, she testified about the restraining order her office received to stop the U.S. Postal Service from mailing out postcards that included what her lawsuit called "false statements that will confuse Colorado voters."
And she promoted the security of voting by mail-in ballot, saying, "Russia cannot hack a piece of paper."
In her testimony, Griswold recommend that Congress:
- Create a bipartisan commission from state governments to make recommendations to avoid the type of foreign interference that occurred in the 2016 election.
- Provide funding to states for election cybersecurity and counterterrorism response.
- Require the federal intelligence community to declassify foreign misinformation and form a bipartisan committee of state and federal representatives to make recommendations on how best to release that information to the public.
- Consider legislation to combat deep fakes, election misinformation and foreign coordination, similar to a state bill that Griswold said she proposed before the pandemic shut down the Colorado General Assembly.
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