Newly declassified documents released by the White House, which were promoted by then-President Donald Trump during an address on election security, indicate that the nation's election systems would be difficult to manipulate on a wide enough scale to alter election outcomes. Trump had claimed during his address that election systems were vulnerable to "hacking, exploitation, and foreign interference."
The documents, from the National Intelligence Council, assessed that while certain internet-connected election infrastructure, such as voter registration databases and poll books, are susceptible to cyberattacks, the systems used to count, transmit, and display election results are largely resistant to large-scale manipulation. Post-election audits and paper trails, the reports noted, would uncover such efforts in nearly all U.S. states.
A January 2020 report stated that hostile actors could manipulate vote tabulation systems on a localized basis but coordinating a widespread campaign to alter voting results would be difficult. Similarly, it assessed that foreign actors would face challenges coordinating a large-scale effort to manipulate mail-in voting, and robust postal tracking would likely detect such activities. Cyberattacks could potentially delay voting but "probably would not affect the integrity of certified results," according to the report.
While intelligence reports indicated that foreign adversaries like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea possess the capability to access and potentially manipulate data in U.S. election-related computer systems, the reports did not identify specific plans to interfere or past instances where foreign actors changed election results. An August 2020 report noted that Russia was observed attempting to target or manipulate election systems during the 2020 election, primarily using measures to denigrate former Vice President Joe Biden and share favorable information about Trump.
Systems vulnerable to disruption, according to a January 2020 report, include official election websites or registration databases, which are often publicly accessible, and poll books used by election officials to verify voter eligibility. Bad actors could alter data to potentially prevent individuals or groups from voting, causing delays on Election Day or requiring provisional ballots, but these actions would not affect the votes themselves. Cyber operations targeting electronic tabulation of results could delay reporting, potentially creating public uncertainty but likely not affecting certified results.
A 2026 report from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency stated that election-related software faces the same security concerns as most other software systems and called for transparency from election officials to improve public trust. Openly acknowledging incidents and mitigation steps, the report suggested, can demonstrate proactive defense and encourage continuous improvement.
Intelligence assessments noted that China probed presidential campaigns since 2008 to gain insights on U.S.-China issues, and state-sponsored Chinese cyber actors targeted the Biden campaign to gather intelligence. However, the intelligence community assessed that China did not intend to covertly interfere to sway the 2020 election outcome, though it preferred Trump not be reelected. Another memo suggested that China believed Trump's reelection prospects were diminished due to the pandemic and economic downturn, leading Beijing to plan for either electoral outcome.
Iran was noted as conducting an influence campaign to undermine the sitting president and U.S. democratic institutions, and to divide the country. This effort focused on covert online influence, such as sharing memes and news critical of Trump. The report stated that while Iran could attempt to manipulate or attack election infrastructure as it has in other regions, there was no information indicating an intent to do so in the United States.
The declassified documents also included a CIA assessment examining Venezuela's manipulation of voting systems, following claims of its involvement in 2020 election interference. The memo indicated that Venezuelan government officials had developed the capability to manipulate electronic voting systems in their own elections. However, the intelligence did not definitively confirm large-scale electronic fraud in specific Venezuelan elections, and crucially, found no evidence that the Venezuelan government could manipulate election results outside of its own country due to its reliance on controlling every stage of the electronic voting process.
In addition to technological vulnerabilities, a National Intelligence Council memo highlighted concerns about adversaries exploiting public lack of knowledge about voting systems to undermine confidence in U.S. democratic processes. It suggested that false narratives could gain traction, and invalidating such claims could be difficult and time-consuming, especially if adversaries evaded U.S. intelligence collection. A widely publicized compromise of election infrastructure, the memo warned, could undercut public confidence even if it was not used to manipulate election data or systems.