Law enforcement, intelligence, and election officials in the US were on high alert for digital attacks and influence operations after Russia targeted the presidential elections in 2016 The threat of hacking and malign foreign influence is still present, but a new top-line risk has arisen: physical safety threats to election officials, their families, and their workplace.
The US Election Assistance Commission released security guidance for election professionals in July of 2021. In public comments this week, lawmakers, top national security officials, and election administrators all voiced concern that misinformation about the security and validity of US voting continues to shape a new threat landscape.
New Mexico's Secretary of State and top election official testified before the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee yesterday that the conspiracy about our voting and election systems have caused people to act. I had to leave my home for weeks under police protection during the election season. In the last few years, my office has seen an increase in calls, emails, and social media posts that parrot the misinformation that is being spread in the national discourse. Since our June 2022, primary election, my office has received threats that have been referred to law enforcement.
Federal intelligence and law enforcement view foreign adversaries that have been active during past US elections, including Russia, China, and Iran, as part of a discussion at a cyber security conference on Tuesday. Threats against election workers are at the top of their list.
Nakasone said that they have a series of operations that they are conducting now and in the future. There is a persistent engagement that we have across time, in terms of being able to understand where our adversaries are at and how we can impact them.
The Bureau simply has a set of enforcement mandates around elections that it focuses on carrying out, according to the FBI.
He said that they were not the truth police. There isn't an important role for calling out lies, it's just that our contributions are very specific. Foreign influence is being targeted. We are looking at cyber actors that target election infrastructure. Federal election crimes include campaign finance violations, voter fraud, voter suppression, and threats of violence against election workers, which we are not going to tolerate.
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