Agency: Election ‘most secure’ ever
WASHINGTON – Rejecting President Donald Trump’s persistent claims and complaints of voting fraud, a broad coalition of top government and industry officials is declaring that the Nov. 3 election and the following count unfolded smoothly with no more than the usual minor hiccups.
It was, they declared, “the most secure in American history.”
The statement late Thursday by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency amounted to the most direct repudiation to date of Trump’s claims and echoed repeated assertions by election experts and state officials.
The president was not impressed. He tweeted on Friday that Democrats have complained for years about unsafe elections but “now they are saying what a wonderful job the Trump Administration did in making 2020 the most secure election ever.”
“Actually this is true, except for what the Democrats did. Rigged Election!” Trump tweeted.
He didn’t elaborate, but he and his supporters have charged repeatedly – and filed legal challenges – complaining that their poll watchers were unable to closely watch the voting and counting. They also have raised objections to problems that are typical in most elec
tions: Questions about signatures, late votes and postmarks on mail-in ballots, as well as the potential for a small number of ballots miscast or lost. Many of those challenges have been tossed out by judges, some within hours of their filing, though some are still pending.
With Democrat Joe Biden leading Trump by wide margins in key battleground states, none of the issues likely would have any impact on the outcome of the election. And if there are legitimate problems to be found, they will be, the coalition declared. Its statement said that all of the states with close results have paper records, which allow for the recounting of each ballot, if necessary, and for “the identification and correction of any mistakes or errors. … Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and doublechecking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result.”
Thursday’s statement was written for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which spearheaded federal election protection efforts, and was 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 reassuring Americans that the election was secure and that their votes would be counted.
Taking a shot at Trump and his supporters, the statement said, “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’s authors included 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.