The 2024 election problems include Russia and fake videos

Disinformation campaigns, ballot processing problems and other problems at the ballot box have made headlines in the run-up to Election Day 2024. election officials say they are confident in existing safeguards for safe and fair elections.

Officials have been fearing problems for months. In May, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned that the 2024 election was likely will come under the most attack from malign foreign forces in American history. Now some of these concerns have appeared in the headlines multiple fake videos linked to a Russian disinformation campaignThat’s what American intelligence officials say.

Meanwhile, local election officials are battling other ballot counting issues. Officials in Oregon and Washington speak of a suspect Arsonist set ballot boxes on fire And undated absentee ballots in Pennsylvania remain at the center of a lawsuit.

Here’s a look at several issues surrounding the 2024 election, including allegations of disinformation from foreign governments:

Ballot papers damaged in suspected arson

Officials in Oregon and Washington say a suspected arsonist set fire to ballot boxes earlier this week.

Portland police responded to a ballot box fire in the Buckman neighborhood around 3:30 a.m. Monday, and police in neighboring Vancouver responded to another ballot box arson shortly after. The Portland fire damaged only three ballots thanks to a fire suppression system in the collection box.

The Vancouver fire damaged nearly 500 ballots when the fire suppression system failed. Election officials are sending new ballots to affected voters, but about six could not be identified and others may have been completely burned, they said.

In Oregon, Mike Benner, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, said the suspect is a white male, 30 to 40 years old, with short hair or bald, a thin to medium build and a thin face. The New York Times And ABC Newsciting anonymous sources, reported that a message reading “Free Gaza” appeared on the devices used in Monday’s arsons.

“It is entirely possible that the suspect intends to continue targeted attacks throughout the area,” Benner warned.

Fake videos of election fraud, false claims linked to Russia

US intelligence officials say multiple fake videos showing voter fraud have been linked to a Russian disinformation campaign Russia is trying to help Trump defeat Vice President Kamala Harris at the elections.

One video claimed a someone who claimed to be a recent immigrant from Haiti and a friend who voted for Harris twice in Georgia. According to a statement from US law enforcement and intelligence agencies, “Russian influence actors” were behind that video.

Another video, in which Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, were accused of tipping off, has now been charged music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs of a raid in exchange for bribes, was also believed to be fabricated by Russian actors and to be false, according to a joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Another video shown mail-in ballots are destroyed in Bucks County, Pennsylvaniaan important battlefield suburb. The video was shot and amplified by Russian actors, U.S. officials said.

Trump’s campaign accuses the British political party of meddling

Trump’s campaign filed a legal complaint last month against Britain’s ruling Labor Party, accusing it of meddling in the U.S. election after Sofia Patel, the party’s chief of operations, acknowledged in a public post on LinkedIn that dozens of party workers helped in the Harris campaign.

It is not illegal for foreigners to serve as campaign volunteers in U.S. elections, provided they are not compensated in any way, according to FEC Rules. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said current and former Labor Party staff were campaigning on their own time and in their personal capacity.

Trump’s campaign complaint accused Labor officials of “egregious foreign interference” and questioned whether there had been “illegal foreign campaign contributions and interference.”

Chinese national charged for voting in Michigan

A Chinese national studying at the University of Michigan, who was not named by officials, is indicted after allegedly illegally casting an irrevocable ballot.

This is reported by the Detroit News The vote is still expected to count because there is no way to remove it from the system once it has been entered into a tabulator, a safeguard to protect voter privacy and prevent individual votes from being linked to voters.

The student registered to vote Sunday using a school ID and signed a document testifying that he was a U.S. citizen, Michigan’s secretary of state told the newspaper. Detroit News. Michigan officials have not said whether the vote is related to attempts at foreign election interference.

“Let this be clear: Voting records are public – any noncitizen who fraudulently attempts to vote in Michigan will expose themselves to great risk and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson of Michigan and Washtenaw County Prosecutor. Eli Savit said in a statement.

“Noncitizen voting is an extremely isolated and rare event. Research in multiple states and across the country has found no evidence that large numbers of noncitizens have registered to vote. Even less common is that a noncitizen actually casts a vote.”

Ballot papers damaged in suspected arson

Fake videos of election fraud, false claims linked to Russia

Trump’s campaign accuses the British political party of meddling

Chinese national charged for voting in Michigan

Other possible voting problems in the news