Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the head of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) assured voters on Wednesday that foreign adversaries will not be able to alter the outcome of the election.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Jen Easterly, CISA’s director, said that the nation’s election systems—including voting and ballot-counting—are more secure than ever, making any attempts to alter the outcome of the election from foreign adversaries impossible.
“Malicious actors, even if they tried, could not have an impact at scale such that there would be a material effect on the outcome of the election,” Easterly said.
This comes as Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, will face off against former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, in just over a month.
Newsweek reached out to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency via email on Wednesday for further comment.
Voting machines are tested at the Wake County Board of Elections on September 17, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. The head of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) assured voters on Wednesday that foreign adversaries will not be able to alter the outcome of the upcoming presidential election.
Allison Joyce/Getty Images
Federal agencies have previously warned of growing attempts by Russia, Iran and other countries to influence voters before the November 5 election. U.S. officials have also said that such hostile nations are ramping up their efforts.
Last month, the Biden administration seized dozens of Kremlin-run fake websites and filed charges against two Russian media employees allegedly involved in covertly financing conservative influencers. Additionally, three Iranian operatives were charged last week with hacking Trump’s campaign in an effort to weaken confidence in the U.S. electoral process.
However, Easterly stressed that while these adversaries aim to undermine confidence in the system, there is no evidence they can tamper with the actual election infrastructure.
“We have not seen specific cyber activity designed to interfere with actual election infrastructure or processes,” Easterly said.
In light of growing concerns over election misinformation, some election offices and state secretaries are ramping up efforts to address the issue head-on.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, a Democrat who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, urged CISA in a letter last week to strengthen its coordination with social media platforms to fight election misinformation.
While Easterly acknowledged “a very convoluted, very confusing information environment,” and said her agency works with election officials to promote accurate information, she was clear about her agency’s role that they do not monitor social media or moderate its content.
Instead, she advised voters to rely on their local election offices for accurate information and urged those with concerns to volunteer as poll workers to gain a firsthand understanding of the election safeguards.
“There will be a lot of information out there in the coming months. It will be up to every voter to be able to understand the signal from the noise,” Easterly said. “That trusted signal is coming from your state and local election officials.”
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
