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Tags: cyberattacks | hacking | foreign interference | mail-in voting

Report: 2020 Election Most Secure Despite COVID-19, Cyberattacks

stickers saying "I voted by mail"
(Logan Cyrus/Getty Images)

By    |   Thursday, 15 October 2020 01:45 PM EDT

The 2020 presidential election may be the most secure in U.S. history despite an uptick in cyberattacks and a significant change to the way Americans vote due to the coronavirus pandemic, reports Foreign Affairs.

Voting by mail is more accessible this year — 24 states allow voters to request mail-in ballots — as states take steps to reduce long lines and crowds at voting centers due to coronavirus concerns, and less than 4% of all votes will be cast on paperless voting machines.

In-person polling will also be more accessible as states have secured enough locations and recruited a large number of young, healthy poll workers to run them.  

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security in late September warned that foreign groups and other malicious actors online were spreading disinformation around potential cyberattacks on U.S. election interference "in an effort to manipulate public opinion, discredit the electoral process, and undermine confidence in U.S. democratic institutions."

And Microsoft in early September announced it had taken down a massive hacking operation that could have affected election infrastructure.

But, Foreign Affairs reports, states have made considerable progress to ward off these attacks. They have increased funding for technical support, expanded monitoring and testing, and implemented measured to reduce vulnerabilities.

Solange Reyner

Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.

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Politics
The 2020 presidential election may be the most secure in U.S. history despite an uptick in cyberattacks and a significant change to the way Americans vote due to the coronavirus pandemic, reports Foreign Affairs. Voting by mail is more accessible this year - 24 states allow...
cyberattacks, hacking, foreign interference, mail-in voting
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2020-45-15
Thursday, 15 October 2020 01:45 PM
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