Top Cybersecurity Agency Says No ‘Specific or Credible' Election Threats

Virginia voters submit their ballots at Newton-Lee Elementary School in Ashburn, Va., on Nov. 7, 2023. Win McNamee/Getty Images

The United States’ federal cybersecurity agency sees no “specific or credible” threats facing election infrastructure as Americans head to the polls on Nov. 7, according to a senior Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) official.

On Nov. 7, the agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, briefed reporters on its elections operations center. The center, according to CISA, joins federal, state, and local election officials, as well as members of the private sector, to share real-time threat information.

The official said the agency is confident in the security and resilience of the election process because of the extensive preparations it and its partner organizations conducted. As of Tuesday morning, CISA has not yet received any calls indicating suspicious or nefarious activity. Instead, it’s heard about natural issues like flooding or technical human error issues.

CISA, according to the senior official, is observing elections electronically and watching for any sort of interruptions. The operations center will stay open today and as long as it is needed. Additionally, the agency has field advisers deployed around the country and offers training for local election officials in threat assessment and crisis management.

The 2024 election cycle unofficially kicked off Tuesday with local and state elections across the United States. Millions of Americans are expected to cast ballots on everything from school boards to abortion laws.

Voters queue at Fire Station No. 20 in Jackson, Miss., on Nov. 7, 2023. Lawrence Wilson/The Epoch Times

Nov. 7 also marks about one year before the next presidential election, set for Nov. 5, 2024. Right now, that contest looks to pit President Joe Biden against former President Donald Trump. However, both likely candidates are facing legal challenges as well as questions about their age and health.

Just because there is no specific or credible threat expected doesn’t mean nothing will go awry. The CISA official said those familiar with elections only expect the unexpected. It is not unusual to see what the official called standard operation interruptions arising from either human, mechanical, or technical errors.

Interruptions Aren’t Necessarily Nefarious

An operational interruption is not an indicator of nefarious intent, the official said.

Those curious about the election process, and the agency charged with securing it, are encouraged to look into CISA’s election security webpage and the National Association of State Election Directors’ frequently asked questions page.

CISA’s “rumor vs. reality” page tackles tricky subjects like paper ballots scanned by machines, voter intimidation, ballot secrecy, and unexpected power outages or mechanical failures.

CISA is under fire as reports emerged from the House Judiciary Committee on Nov. 6 that the DHS, CISA, and the Global Engagement Center—an agency within the Bureau of Global Public Affairs at the U.S. State Department—coordinated with Stanford University to censor Republican and conservative voices on social media ahead of the 2020 election.

The senior CISA official did not entertain any specific questions about the Nov. 6 report on Tuesday.

The official did say the turnover of local and volunteer election officials makes it all the more important to maintain high-quality training and ensure preparedness.

CISA, the official said, will continue to train election officials on the most likely tactics, techniques and procedures used by foreign influence campaigns and educate election stakeholders so they can be a trusted public source of election information.