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    • 2024 election issues include Russia and fake videos
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    2024 election issues include Russia and fake videos

    Pabio Posted on

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    Disinformation campaigns, ballot processing issues and other problems at polling places have made headlines as Election Day 2024 approaches. election officials say they are confident in the safeguards in place for secure and fair elections.

    Authorities have been preparing for trouble for months. In May, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned that the 2024 elections were likely. will be most attacked by malicious foreign forces in American history. Today, some of these concerns have made headlines regarding several fake videos linked to a Russian disinformation campaignaccording to U.S. intelligence officials.

    Meanwhile, local elections officials are wrestling with other issues related to ballot counting. Officials in Oregon and Washington say a suspect An arsonist set fire to the polls And Pennsylvania’s undated mail-in ballots remain at center of court battle.

    Here’s a look at various issues surrounding the 2024 election, including allegations of misinformation from foreign governments:

    Ballots damaged in suspected arson attacks

    Authorities in Oregon and Washington say a suspected arsonist set ballot boxes on fire earlier this week.

    Portland police responded to a ballot box fire in the Buckman neighborhood around 3:30 a.m. Monday, and police in neighboring Vancouver responded to another ballot box arson shortly after. The Portland fire damaged only three ballots thanks to a fire suppression system installed in the collection box.

    The Vancouver fire damaged nearly 500 ballots when the fire suppression system failed. Election officials are sending new ballots to affected voters, but about six could not be identified and others may have been burned entirely, they said.

    In Oregon, Portland police spokesman Mike Benner said the suspect is believed to be a white man, 30 to 40 years old, with short hair or baldness, of thin to medium build and a thin face. THE New York Times And ABC Newsciting anonymous sources, reported that a message reading “Liberate Gaza” appeared on devices used in Monday’s arsons.

    “It is very possible that the suspect intends to continue his targeted attacks in the area,” Benner warned.

    Fake Election Fraud Videos and False Russia-Linked Claims

    U.S. intelligence officials say several fake videos depicting election fraud have been linked to a Russian disinformation campaign. Russia works to help Trump defeat Vice President Kamala Harris in the elections.

    A video purported to show a someone who claimed to be a recent immigrant from Haiti and a friend voting for Harris twice in Georgia. “Russian influence actors” were behind this video, according to a press release from American law enforcement and intelligence services.

    FAKE SITES AND INFLUENCERS: Biden, DOJ accuse Russia of $10 million disinformation campaign targeting 2024 election

    Another video, which accused Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, of tipping off, now charged. music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs of a raid in exchange for a bribe, was also found to be fabricated by Russian actors and false, according to a joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI and the Security Agency. cybersecurity and infrastructure security.

    Another video shown mail-in ballots are destroyed in Bucks County, Pennsylvaniaa key battlefield suburb. The video was created and amplified by Russian actors, U.S. officials said.

    DON’T BE WRONG ON ELECTION DAY: 6 false voting declarations to watch out for

    Trump campaign accuses British political party of interference

    Trump’s campaign filed a lawsuit last month against Britain’s ruling Labor Party, accusing it of meddling in the U.S. election after a public LinkedIn post by the party’s chief operations officer, Sofia Patel, said acknowledged that dozens of party members were helping campaign for Harris.

    RUSSIAN DISINFO: Feds shut down Russian AI ‘bot farm’ that spread disinformation to benefit Putin

    It is not illegal for foreign nationals to serve as campaign volunteers in U.S. elections, as long as they are not compensated in any way, according to FEC Rules. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said current and former Labor Party staff were campaigning in their spare time and in their personal capacities.

    The Trump campaign’s complaint accused Labor Party officials of “blatant foreign interference” and questioned whether there were “illegal foreign contributions and interference.”

    Complete coverage: Donald Trump campaign accuses UK’s ruling Labor Party of ‘blatant foreign interference’

    Chinese national accused of voting in Michigan

    A Chinese citizen studying at the University of Michigan, who has not been named by authorities, is currently under investigation. indicted after allegedly voting illegally and irremediably.

    The Detroit News reports the vote is still supposed to count because there is no way to remove it from the system once it has been entered into a tabulator, a safeguard in place to protect voter privacy and prevent individual votes from being linked to voters.

    The student registered to vote Sunday using a school ID and signed a document stating he was a U.S. citizen, the Michigan Secretary of State’s office said in a statement. Detroit News. Michigan officials have not said whether the vote was linked to foreign attempts at election interference.

    “Let me be clear: voting records are public – any non-citizen who attempts to vote fraudulently in Michigan will face great risk and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Secretary of State. State of Michigan Jocelyn Benson and Washtenaw County District Attorney. Eli Savit said in a statement.

    “Non-citizen voting is an extremely isolated and rare event. Surveys in several states and nationally have found no evidence of large numbers of non-citizens registering to vote. It is even less common for a non-citizen to actually vote.”

    Other potential voting issues in the news

    ‘Stay tuned’: Undated mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania remain at center of legal battle

    Contributors: John Bacon, Josh Meyer, Bart Jansen, Kim Hjelmgaard, Maureen Groppe and Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY

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