The nation’s cyber-defense agency said Tuesday evening that the voting process remained secure nationwide despite hoax bomb threats to polling locations, and it pushed back on an unspecified assertion of “cheating” from Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Cait Conley, a senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told reporters that they are “not currently tracking any significant incidents with national-level impact to election infrastructure security.”
“What we have seen consistently across these states and impacted jurisdictions is the incredible resilience of this process, and that is thanks to the election officials who have been so vigilant in their preparation for this election cycle,” she said.
The FBI on Tuesday said noncredible bomb threats were made to polling locations in several states, with many appearing to come from Russian email domains. The statement from the agency did not directly accuse Russian actors of being behind the threats.
Additional bomb threats to Georgia later in the day prompted extended hours at a dozen polling locations, according to state election officials.
A state court in Georgia ordered several polling places in DeKalb County to remain open as late as an hour after polls would normally close following several bomb threats to polling places.
The statement comes as U.S. intelligence officials have warned that Russian-linked actors are working to undermine the validity of the election and “instill fear in voters regarding the election process.”
Conley reiterated prior warnings from U.S. officials that foreign adversaries “may continue with their with their malign influence activities in the coming days, attempting to undermine the American public’s confidence in the legitimacy of our election results, regardless of the outcome.”
“We can’t let our adversaries have a vote in our democracy, so let’s all please remain vigilant,” Conley said.
U.S. officials have reported that Russia is seeking to boost Trump’s candidacy while Iran prefers Vice President Kamala Harris, and officials have spent the final weeks before the election debunking specific cases of misinformation.
In one example, Russian influence actors produced and amplified a video that falsely showed an interview with a person “claiming election fraud in Arizona, which involved creating fake overseas ballots and changing voter rolls,” according to a joint statement Monday from CISA, the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Intelligence officials also reported that Russian influence actors posted an article that falsely claimed that “U.S. officials across swing states plan to orchestrate election fraud using a range of tactics, such as ballot stuffing and cyber attacks,” according to the joint statement.
Conley said Tuesday the U.S. is facing “a greater scope and scale of foreign influence operations” this year compared to previous election cycles. Russia, she said, wields the most capability and sophistication in targeting U.S. elections among foreign adversaries.
Trump assertions
In a post on social media, Trump, the Republican nominee, posted: “A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia. Law Enforcement coming!!!” An in another, Trump posted: “Philadelphia and Detroit! Heavy Law Enforcement is there!!!”
Asked about the possibility of wider level fraud in Pennsylvania, Conley said they agency has been “in close communication with state and local election officials across the country today.”
“We have no data or reporting to support these claims,” she said.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner issued a statement Tuesday that said there is “no factual basis whatsoever within law enforcement to support this wild allegation.”
And Seth Bluestein, a Philadelphia city commissioner, posted on social media that there was “absolutely no truth to this allegation. It is yet another example of disinformation.”
— Michael Macagnone contributed to this report
The post US cyber-defense agency says voting secure nationwide appeared first on Roll Call.
