Iran Uses US Voter Rolls in Misinformation Campaign to Interfere in Election
- October 26th, 2020
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On Wednesday, Oct 21, John Ratcliffe, the director of national security, revealed that Iran and Russia obtained voter registration data and are trying to influence the U.S. presidential election. Iran contacted voters via threatening emails masked as messages sent by the Proud Boys, a pro-Trump, white nationalist group that the president mentioned in the first debate. Ratcliffe says the cyber-attack is meant to “—cause confusion, sow chaos and undermine your confidence in American democracy.”
This is a threat to national security because it is Iran’s most blatant attempt at interfering with an American election. The cyber-attack hacked voter rolls and used public records against the US. By undermining the American public’s faith in our democratic institutions and the outcome of the upcoming election, Iran, China, and Russia can weaken the USA from within. Although there is an assumption that the emails favor the election of Biden, the ultimate goal of the attack was to create controversy and doubt, which helps neither candidate.
To address the situation, local election officials should reach out to the voters who received the emails and confirm that they were part of a misinformation campaign by Iran. National security officials and the White House should reassure voters that this attack was by Iran and meant to sow chaos, not to benefit either candidate. The Trump administration should avoid spinning the attack as a plot to benefit Biden because, not only is this untrue, it furthers the objective of our enemy: to create division.
Elisabeth Nagle