The FBI is concerned about foreign adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran potentially using technology like robocalls, deep fakes, and AI generated content to try to influence the 2024 election. Officials are also concerned about election workers being physically threatened.

Washington

The 2024 United States presidential election has been thrown into disarray after Joe Biden formally withdrew from the race.

U.S. Presidential Election

The FBI has expressed concern over the potential influence of foreign adversaries on the 2024 U.S. election through the use of technology such as robocalls, deep fakes, and AI-generated content. Authorities from the United States are specifically wary of efforts from countries like Russia, China, and Iran, which may exploit these technologies to sway electoral outcomes. These concerns come amidst observations of such tactics already being employed in the current election cycle.

In addition to technological threats, the FBI has also highlighted the issue of election workers facing physical threats. Senior officials and local election workers alike are troubled by the escalation in hostility, often fueled by incendiary comments and misinformation spread through social media platforms. Wilson Wilcox, an election administrator with over three decades of experience, shared his observations about the growing hostility towards election officials, attributing it to contentious online discourse.

Wilcox noted a troubling trend since the 2020 election, where a significant number of seasoned election officials have left their positions, taking with them invaluable institutional knowledge. Despite these challenges, including concerns over fraudulent voting attempts, Wilcox remains confident in the robust checks and balances within the voting process. He reassures that instances of attempted illegal voting are rare and generally unsuccessful.

The changing dynamics of how Americans vote, with an increase in mail-in voting and early in-person voting, pose additional challenges for election administrators. However, despite these shifts, both federal and local officials remain optimistic. They believe that the U.S. election system has significantly improved over the years and is currently among the most professionally managed globally. This confidence underscores a collective resolve to maintain the integrity and security of the electoral process despite emerging challenges.



FBI concerned about security of 2024 election

Robocalls, deep fakes and AI generated content have already been seen this election cycle. The FBI warns foreign adversaries like Russia, China and Iran could try to use that type of technology to influence the 2024 election. But senior FBI officials said they're also concerned about election workers being physically threatened, a worry that's being echoed at the local level to somebody has read some incendiary comment on Facebook or Twitter or X instagram. What name that named the platform that has just sent them ballistic and they come into my polling place with this, you know, this this chip on their shoulder. Wilson Wilcox has worked in election administration for over 30 years, but since 2020 he's seen a lot of election officials leave their jobs and that means their decades of experience also walked out the door. All those lessons learned in 2020, you know, are gone from those organizations. And um, you know, that's a massive amount of institutional knowledge that that you just can't write down everything. One thing he's not losing sleep over fraudulent voters. Have I experienced it? Yes. You know, I've had somebody that that has tried to do something illegal. Um, but the key word there was tried. There are a lot of checks and balances in this process that that prevent that type of activity beyond the change in election workers. How americans vote is also changing. Voting by mail is more popular and more states are allowing early in person voting. Wilcox says those changes make it harder to anticipate when they'll get a rush of voters, but he's confident the industry will be ready. Elections in today's world in the U. S. Are the most professionally run elections that we've ever had. You know, it's gotten magnitudes better in the last 34 years. That's a level of confidence shared at both the local and federal level. Stephanie Lieberman, Scripps News, Washington.

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