Amidst widespread concerns of outside interference influencing the results of Nov 5’s US presidential election, the head of the country’s cybersecurity agency says election infrastructure is more secure than ever.
State & local election officials across the US have made big improvements to strengthen both physical & cyber security at polling & voting locations to preserve election integrity, stated Jen Easterly, the Director of the US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), in an interview with Weekend Edition.
Avoid Sharing Election Misinformation
After Russia’s attempts to influence the US presidential election in 2016, CISA was created to work with state & local officials to make sure voting machines are not vulnerable to hacks.
“I can say with confidence based on all the work that we’ve done together since 2016, that election infrastructure has never been more secure,” Easterly commented.
Threats
“There are cyber threats, there are physical threats to election officials, but we’re at a point now with our election infrastructure secure & the election community prepared to meet the moment on the 5th of Nov.”
Her confidence in election integrity comes as intelligence officials warn that foreign adversaries — mainly Russia, Iran & China — are stepping up efforts to undermine voter trust in the democratic process, sway voters & inflame partisan divisions.
Driven by Republicans, most Americans concerned about fraud in 2024 election
Most Americans are concerned about voter fraud in their general election, fuelled by election misinformation & distrust in free and fair elections, according to a recent NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.
Republicans, who account for most of the concerned voters, are leading the trend, inspired by former President Donald Trump’s continued false claims that vote rigging is rampant & the reason he lost the 2020 election.
Debunking Voter Fraud
Widespread voter fraud is rare, & a slew of audits & investigations have confirmed the results of the US election 4 years ago. Even so, election officials across the country have been busy debunking voter fraud conspiracy theories.
Some election administrators have been subject to death threats in the face of public erosion of trust in their work.
Pushing false election fraud theories is “essentially doing our adversaries’ job for them,” Easterly said. “And it is doing a massive disservice to the hundreds of thousands of election officials across the nation because it is leading to threats of violence and creating real mistrust and stoking partisan discord. That is exactly what our foreign adversaries want.”
The director said the Federal Agency has collaborated with local officials to install safety measures at election sites such as panic buttons & bulletproof glass.
Election Experts not too Concerned about Certification
Easterly said it is important for Americans to be patient while awaiting the official outcome of the Nov. 5 election.
“We know that this election is probably going to be very close & elections don’t end when the polls close,” she said. “It actually may take days to weeks to actually fully count & audit & certify the vote.”
“In that zone of uncertainty,” she added, “that’s where our foreign adversaries are going to do their best to influence Americans to undermine our belief in the legitimacy of the process.”
