DHS, other agencies assess federal election integrity

Department of Homeland Security personnel recently joined the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in assessing findings regarding federal election integrity.

The findings from a joint report to the President issued last month determined no foreign governments owned, directed, or controlled election infrastructure used in the 2020 federal elections; implemented a scheme to manipulate election infrastructure; or tallied, changed, or otherwise manipulated vote counts.

According to Executive Order (EO) 13848, the joint report relied on the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) addressing foreign threats to the 2020 US elections.

The report’s scope discussed efforts to influence public perceptions and opinion, including efforts to compromise the security or integrity of election infrastructure or infrastructure pertaining to political organizations, candidates, or campaigns used in the 2020 U.S. federal elections.

Within the 2020 election cycle, federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, non-governmental, and private sector partners collaborated to combat foreign interference efforts and support election officials, political organizations, campaigns, and candidates in safeguarding infrastructure.

The collaborating agencies remain committed to strengthening domestic cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, supply chain risk management, public-private partnerships, and public messaging to enhance the resiliency of democratic institutions.