2020 Election Was Most Secure in U.S. History, Officials Say | Time
Category: News & Politics
Via: sister-mary-agnes-ample-bottom • 4 years ago • 9 commentsBy: Eric Tucker and Frank Bajak (Time)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Christopher Krebs, director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Dirksen Building titled "5G: National Security Concerns, Intellectual Property Issues, and the Impact on Competition and Innovation," on Tuesday, May 14, 2019. Tom Williams-CQ Roll Call/Getty Images By Eric Tucker and Frank Bajak / AP November 13, 2020 4:29 AM EST
(WASHINGTON) — A coalition of federal and state officials said Thursday that they have no evidence that votes were compromised or altered in last week's presidential election, rejecting unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud advanced by President Donald Trump and many of his supporters.
The statement, by government and industry officials who coordinate election cybersecurity, trumpeted the Nov. 3 election as the most secure in American history. It amounted to the most direct repudiation to date of Trump's efforts to undermine the integrity of the contest, and echoed repeated assertions by election experts and state officials over the last week that the election unfolded smoothly without broad irregularities.
"While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too," the statement said. "When you have questions, turn to elections officials as trusted voices as they administer elections."
It was distributed by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which spearheaded federal election protection efforts and tweeted by its director, Chris Krebs. Hours earlier, he was the subject of a Reuters story that said he had told associates he expected to be fired by Trump. Krebs has been vocal on Twitter in repeatedly reassuring Americans that the election was secure and that their votes would be counted.
"America, we have confidence in the security of your vote, you should, too," he wrote.
The statement's authors said they had no evidence that any voting system had deleted or lost votes, had changed votes, or was in any way compromised. They said all of the states with close results have paper records, which allows for the recounting of each ballot, if necessary, and for "the identification and correction of any mistakes or errors."
"The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and double checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result," the statement said.
The message is in stark contrast to Trump's unsupported claims of fraud and widespread problems that he insists could affect vote totals.
The issues Trump's campaign and its allies have pointed to are typical in every election: problems with signatures, secrecy envelopes and postmarks on mail-in ballots, as well as the potential for a small number of ballots miscast or lost. With Democrat Joe Biden leading Trump by wide margins in key battleground states, none of those issues would have any impact on the outcome of the election.
Trump's campaign has also launched legal challenges complaining that their poll watchers were unable to scrutinize the voting process. Many of those challenges have been tossed out by judges, some within hours of their filing; again, none of the complaints show any evidence that the outcome of the election was affected.
The statement's authors include the presidents of the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Secretaries of State — who run elections at the state level — and the executive committee of the government-industry coordinating council that includes all the major voting equipment vendors.
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(WASHINGTON) — A coalition of federal and state officials said Thursday that they have no evidence that votes were compromised or altered in last week's presidential election, rejecting unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud advanced by President Donald Trump and many of his supporters.
Out of respect for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and the incoming administration that will bring civility back to our country, I say this: It's time, President Trump. It's time.
(Just for the record, not once in 4 years have I put those two words together: President Trump. Now I've done it twice, but I'll never do it again.)
The President is behaving (Drum Roll) Deplorably!
Why In Hell did nearly half of America vote for him?
Part of me wants to ask why Ivanka Trump asked China for, and received, a trademark on a particular brand of voting machine that is internet accessible.
The Trumps have revealed themselves to be greedy grifters and deplorable human beings from the get go. Haven't thave all been sanctioned for stealing from charities? Hell, tens of millions are still unaccounted for from Trump's inauguration. It will take a decade to investigate all of their corruption!
And yet, tens of millions would have more of them, plural. Trump's really is a crime family!
I agree. In the beginning, I thought Trump was a ridiculous candidate because of his tacky flamboyance and inability to keep his pecker in his pants. It never occurred to me that he would actually win. It took me about 5 minutes into his presidency to figure out just how unscrupulous and criminally-minded the whole family truly is.
The record number of Americans voting, the massive amount of mail-in ballots and long lines for in-person voting was an example of American democracy at work.
Lest we not forget the poll workers, those counting the ballots from both parties, the supervisor of elections, again from both parties that did their job with pride, honesty, and in many instances under trying circumstances.
And to Chris Krebs and the cyber security unit.
KUDOS to you all.
Indeed!
In addition, I'm hoping that Mr. Krebs can't be fired by Trump.
I assume they've already arranged for employment elsewhere, or at least have been assured by Biden that they will be rehired on January 20th or immediately thereafter.
I bet that future employment concerns have crossed the mind of Chris Krebs and his team. I hope they are protected from Trump's favorite method of herd-culling: Fire by tweet. Oops, that's his second favorite method. His first preference is to ignore anything resembling a pandemic.