The Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity agency issued a statement on Thursday calling the 2020 general election the "most secure in American history," despite multiple legal challenges alleging a variety of alleged voting irregularities across a number of battleground states.
“The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and double checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result,” read the statement released by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
The joint statement from the executive committee of the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council (GCC) and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Council (SCC) asserted that there is "no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised."
"When states have close elections, many will recount ballots. All of the states with close results in the 2020 presidential race have paper records of each vote, allowing the ability to go back and count each ballot if necessary. This is an added benefit for security and resilience. This process allows for the identification and correction of any mistakes or errors," noted the statement.
“Other security measures like pre-election testing, state certification of voting equipment, and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC) certification of voting equipment help to build additional confidence in the voting systems used in 2020."
The group contended that there are "many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections," and said that it can assure the public of its "utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections." The group recommended elections officials as "trusted voices as they administer elections."
The statement’s authors include the presidents of the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Secretaries of State—who run elections at the state level—and the executive committee of the government-industry coordinating council that includes all the major voting equipment vendors.
The CISA statement comes after media reports claimed, citing anonymous sources, that CISA Director Christopher Krebs told associates he expects to be fired, and that CISA Assistant Director Bryan Ware is expected to step down from his position on Friday. Ware told CyberScoop he is looking to start a new technology company. The Epoch Times has not been able to independently verify the reports.
A number of media outlets declared Democratic nominee Joe Biden president-elect on Nov. 7. President Donald Trump has alleged voter fraud and said any declarations of victory are premature, without specifying how widespread the alleged cases are. His campaign has launched multiple legal challenges in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and Michigan, over a variety of alleged voting irregularities.
Detroit election workers work on counting absentee ballots for the 2020 general election at TCF Center in Detroit, Mich., on Nov. 4, 2020. (Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images)
In one voting anomaly, the Antrim County, Michigan, clerk of the court announced a computer "glitch" on Nov. 6 that resulted in a 6,000-vote swing from Trump to Biden. The "glitch" was later corrected after which the votes were allotted to Trump.
Michigan GOP Chairwoman Laura Cox said in a news conference on Nov. 6 that the state’s GOP found that 47 of 83 counties use the same software, which is made by Dominion Voting Systems. The system is being used in 30 states, including in the major swing states of Arizona, Nevada, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.
But the company has disputed the claim and issued a statement saying that there are "no credible reports or evidence of any system software errors in Georgia or Michigan, including erroneous reporting of unofficial results from Antrim County, Michigan."
Michigan officials later claimed that the "glitch" was actually due to human error.
In another voting anomaly, Morgan and Spalding counties in Georgia saw a computer "glitch" to the electronic poll books used to sign in voters, which prevented voters from casting ballots on voting machines on Nov. 3 for several hours, local election officials told Politico.
The voting machines were made by Dominion Voting Systems and the poll books were made by KnowInk, a subcontractor to Dominion. The matter is still under investigation, Politico reported.
The state of Texas rejected Dominion’s voting software after an extensive review. In the most recent rejection (pdf) in 2019, Texas Deputy Secretary of State Jose Esparza concluded that the examination of the software “raise concerns” whether the Dominion “system is suitable for its intended purpose, operates efficiently and accurately, and is safe from fraudulent or unauthorized manipulation.”
The Epoch Times won’t declare a winner of the 2020 presidential election until all results are certified and any legal challenges are resolved.
Ivan Pentchoukov, Jack Phillips, and The Associated Press contributed to this report
