WASHINGTON — With recent confirmation that election records from at least two Florida counties were hacked by the Russians in 2016, some federal and state officials are stepping up their efforts to safeguard future elections from foreign interference ahead of 2020.

While concerns about election security have historically been bipartisan, legislation is currently facing an uphill battle on Capitol Hill.

Although several committees in both the House and the Senate are still trying to address potential meddling by foreign adversaries, partisan fighting appears to be derailing election security legislation in the upper chamber, which could prevent progress before voters cast their ballots next year.

“It should be a huge concern, every vote should count. We know how critical Florida is to determining the outcome of elections. So goes Florida, so goes the White House,” said Rep. Val Demings (D-10th District).

"I am hoping our new governor and his cabinet will take election security in Florida, and our two senators by the way, because one was in denial about Florida being a target at all,” she added.

The first primary in the 2020 presidential race is a little more than 250 days away, but legislation aimed at safeguarding election infrastructure is still in limbo.

“The FBI’s recent notification to state and local officials in Florida that Russian operatives have successfully hacked voter registration files in two counties in 2016 came nearly three years after the breach,” said Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Massachusetts) during a House Oversight hearing on Wednesday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is now ordering a security review of state and county election systems ahead of 2020, but intelligence officials are bracing for even more aggressive attacks in the months to come.

“Folks haven’t faced this type of threat before, they haven’t budgeted for it,” said Adam Ambrogi with the Democracy Fund.

Congress approved a $380 million federal grant to states last March to boost election security but have yet to give any more resources since.

“What needs to happen is an annual stream of funding around that amount, or a little higher, distributed to the states so they can figure out new and innovative ways to defend their system,” Ambrogi said.

However, some lawmakers believe tackling this issue at the federal level isn’t the answer.

“There is only so much we can do to force the state’s hand and force them to do things,” said Rep. Ross Spano (R-15th District). "Let’s get our head around what exactly the problem is before we jump forward, and figure out what the solutions are.”

Spano’s viewpoint largely resembles that of the Senate Majority Leader, who has refused to take up election security legislation at this point.

“At the very least, we need to make sure that people have the opportunity to have their vote counted when they cast it,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-23rd District). “Right now the Republican government at the federal level are not committed to doing that.”

“We will absolutely insist on Republicans joining us in that effort. And I hope if they don’t, that voters will hold them accountable at the ballot box,” she added.

At this point, there’s no indication that these extra resources will be put in place any time soon and time is running out.