Declassified U.S. intelligence assessments acknowledge vulnerabilities in election infrastructure but also note that security measures would likely prevent widespread manipulation of results, according to documents reviewed by BBC Verify. Former President Donald Trump has frequently cited concerns about election security, particularly regarding voting machines, to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 election and potentially future contests.
In a speech, Trump asserted that previously classified U.S. intelligence assessments proved the government knew voting machines were "extremely exposed to attack." He cited one assessment stating that "United States' adversaries, including, at a minimum, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, as well as non-state groups have the capability to compromise US election infrastructure."
One declassified National Intelligence Council (NIC) assessment from January 2020, reviewed by the BBC, acknowledged that "ballot and voting machine preparation is vulnerable to cyber, supply chain, or insider threats." The assessment specifically noted that machines without a paper backup were "particularly vulnerable to cyber operations."
However, the same NIC assessment also stated that "security and mitigation measures used in these processes, and the distribution of voting machine storage facilities countrywide, would make it difficult for an adversary to coordinate a campaign to manipulate voting results across an entire state or multiple states." Another declassified NIC report from August 2020 indicated that "foreign states or other actors may seek to compromise our election infrastructure."
Protecting election infrastructure has been a bipartisan concern for years, with efforts to establish standards to strengthen voting mechanics following the contested 2000 presidential election and subsequent evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election. While state governments manage election procedures, most votes are now recorded on some form of paper ballot.
These efforts to bolster election security have occurred even as Trump has taken steps to cut funding and undermine the independence of some government programs and agencies tasked with monitoring election security.