Russia is “expanding criticism” of mail-order voting to undermine confidence in the electoral process, according to a Department of Homeland Security bulletin received through CBS News.
Analysts in the Department’s intelligence branch conclude that Russian media and state agents “will likely announce accusations of corruption, formula failures, and malicious foreign interference to sow mistrust in democratic establishments and election results.”
“We believe that Russia will likely continue to magnify complaints about mail voting and the conversion of voting processes amid the COVID-19 pandemic to undermine public confidence in the electoral process,” says the agency’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis bulletin.through state election officials on mail-by-mail voting expansion and face-to-face voting adjustment to reflect the demanding situations raised through COVID-19 have become topics of public debate.
The content of the newsletter was first reported through ABC News.
The bulletin indicates that Russia is likely to continue its crusade to undermine public confidence in the electoral system, as it did in the 2016 and 2018 elections.He gave the example that Russian state media sowed discord in the Iowa caucus in February by claiming that the election had been rigged.
“At the Iowa assemblies in February, Russian state media and wired Internet sites claimed that the contest was resolved in favor of status quo applicants and that technical difficulties with the assembly’s cell voting application led to the manipulation of ballots,” the newspaper says.These media continued this narrative until March 2020, claiming that the Democratic Party had reached a corrupt agreement in the backroom to orchestrate the departure of applicants from the status quo in order to consolidate former Vice President Biden’s vote before the Super Tuesday issue.a choice.”
An unprecedented number of Americans are expected to vote by mail before the November election of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Office of Intelligence and Analysis has already raised considerations on Russian interference in 2020.CBS News showed that DHS had refused to publish a July intelligence bulletin to warn law enforcement that Russia should undermine Joe Biden’s candidacy by denigrating his intellectual and physical aptitude.raising “quality issues” related to the procurement of the report.The newsletter raised the option that “Russian evil actors” would announce accusations about the suitability of applicants “to influence the final results of the 2020 election.”
President Trump has attacked the vote by mail, selling unfounded claims that mail voting would lead to more cases of voter fraud.On Wednesday, Trump encouraged North Carolina supporters to vote twice, once by mail and once in the user, which is illegal, “to test “mail voting systems.
In June, Trump stated on Twitter that “millions” of ballots by mail would be published through “foreign countries,” leading to the “scandal of our time.”Officials said last week that “there is no data or intelligence” about a foreign actor seeking to compromise the vote by mail, unlike Trump.
Trump also tweeted on May 26: “THERE IS NO WAY (ZERO!) That mail surveys are not substantially fraudulent.”The tweet led Twitter to publish its first audit of the president’s events.However, he also suggested Florida supporters voted by mail and he himself asked for his own poll for Florida’s number one election.
In a separate evaluation, published last month, the U.S. intelligence network said Russia is actively seeking to “denigrate” Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and that Kremlin-linked actors had tried to bolster Biden’s bid on Trump.