The Russia connectionNo Foreign Meddling in Super Tuesday Primaries: U.S. Officials
U.S. voters who headed to the polls to cast ballots in Super Tuesday primaries encountered scattered problems, some causing long lines or delays, but nothing that could be attributed to foreign interference, U.S. officials said. As a precaution, U.S. security and intelligence officials warned voters Monday to expect foreign actors to try to sway their views as they prepared to vote in key presidential primaries. The U.S. intelligence community, and the exhaustive Mueller investigation, found incontrovertible evidence that Russia engaged in a broad and successful campaign to help Donald Trump win the 2016 election. Earlier Tuesday, acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf told lawmakers that the threat, whether it manifested during Tuesday’s primary elections or during the general election in November, is growing. “We see an ongoing influence campaign by Russia,” he said, adding “We would not be surprised if other adversaries are not also looking at what they’re doing.”
U.S. voters who headed to the polls to cast ballots in Super Tuesday primaries encountered scattered problems, some causing long lines or delays, but nothing that could be attributed to foreign interference, U.S. officials said.
The updated assessment late Tuesday came as polling stations were preparing to close in the last of the 14 states and one territory giving voters a chance to determine U.S. President Donald Trump’s opponent in November’s presidential election.
Problems included issues with voter registration databases as well as problems with voting machines in Texas and California.
Website Issues
In Minnesota, a tool on the state’s website that helps voters find their polling stations also went down.
“We have obviously sporadic reporting on IT systems issues throughout a number of states,” a senior official with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) told reporters late Tuesday.
“But our understanding at this point is, generally speaking, everything is back up and running,” he added. “We don’t have any reports of malicious cyber activity.”
The update backed up previous assessments by CISA officials, who earlier said there were few signs Russia or other U.S. adversaries had stepped up their efforts to cause confusion or even mayhem as American voters began casting ballots Tuesday.
Concerns had been running high in the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s voting after a series of leaked intelligence reports suggested Russia has been trying to put its mark on the upcoming election by aiming to sway public opinion.
While intelligence officials have denied reports there is any evidence to back up claims that Russia is seeking to boost Trump’s reelection bid, Senator Bernie Sanders confirmed he was advised Moscow was meddling with his campaign to win the Democratic Party nomination.
But so far, a senior CISA official told reporters there was been nothing to suggest any uptick in activity to coincide with Tuesday primary votes.
“There is no spike. There is no appreciable increase,” the official said regarding ongoing influence operations. “There’s just that chronic level of mis- and disinformation, where whether it’s the Russians or frankly anyone else, it’s finding those divisive issues to amplify.”
Fears Russia or other cyber actors might target state election infrastructure, like voter databases, likewise failed to materialize.
