When a suspicious video of ballots being ripped up in Pennsylvania surfaced last October, federal agencies swiftly responded, labeling it as Russian disinformation. On Election Day in November, bomb threats to polling places in various states caused minimal disruptions to voting, a scenario covered by the nation’s cybersecurity agency in its outreach to state and local officials.
The future of election security assistance is now uncertain due to the Trump administration's downsizing and disbanding of federal agencies. Efforts to improve election security and monitor foreign influence have been impacted, potentially leaving gaps for adversaries to exploit in future major elections.
