A vow to protect our elections is crucial for Harder or Denham

Last Thursday’s debate during The Modesto Bee’s editorial board between Rep. Jeff Denham and Democratic challenger Josh Harder covered a wide range of important issues facing California’s 10th District, from water scarcity to common-sense immigration reform. But the candidates were noticeably silent on one critical issue: protecting our elections.

Free and fair elections are the bedrock of American democracy, and their integrity has been compromised – both by foreign powers and from within.

We have seen secret, unaccountable “dark money” groups flooding recent elections with millions of dollars in attack ads against Democratic and Republican candidates for Congress. Even more sinister, foreign governments that aim to divide Americans are using fake social media accounts to buy ads influencing voters (a fact agreed upon by U.S. intelligence agencies and both the House and Senate intelligence committees).

These are not partisan problems, they are American problems – and they cannot be solved along partisan lines.

The late Sen. John McCain was never afraid to put country over party. That’s why he was one of the first to co-sponsor the bipartisan, bicameral Honest Ads Act.

This important piece of legislation would protect our elections from foreign interference by requiring online political advertisements to disclose who paid for them, just like the rules already in place for TV and radio ads. This is a critical first step to combat foreign interference in U.S. elections, made even more necessary because such meddling will continue unless Congress acts.

In his final months, Sen. McCain also warned about the dangers of a very small group of powerful moneyed interests being able to covertly control politics. A new report exposed the fact that just 15 groups, running the gamut from the liberal Patriot Majority to the conservative Crossroads GPS, account for 75 percent of so-called “dark money” spent since the Citizens United Supreme Court decision opened the floodgates. These groups do not disclose donors, leaving the public clueless as to who is really trying to influence their votes.

Our system is clearly broken when problems that are undermining the very traditions that unite us as Americans are ignored. Voters deserve a leader who is not afraid to confront these challenges.

Before they have to make the choice of who will represent them in Congress, constituents have a right to know now what both Denham and Harder intend to do to combat the forces attacking our political process.

Unfortunately the debate left voters with more questions than answers. Will the victor of this contest join the principled group in Congress working across the aisle and putting aside partisan politics to support the Honest Ads Act? Will they take seriously the threat “dark money” poses and help inject much-needed transparency into the process?

Since both candidates did not touch on these issues, it is incumbent upon voters to demand answers ahead of November. As former elected officials, we know just how important it is that constituents make their concerns heard on the issues that matter to them most.

We need members of Congress who will protect our elections. Whoever California District 10 voters choose, he must be willing to put country above party. Nothing less than the security of our most cherished democratic institutions is at stake.