2024 election issues include Russia, fake videos

Disinformation campaigns, ballot processing problems and other issues at the polls have made headlines in the run-up to the 2024 election as representatives of the election commission say that they are sure of the availability of guarantees for safe and fair elections.

Officials have been preparing for problems for months. In May, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned of the possibility of a 2024 election will be the most attacked by a malicious foreign force in American history. Now some of these issues are covered in headlines about numerous fake videos linked to the Russian disinformation campaignaccording to US intelligence officials.

Meanwhile, local election officials are grappling with other ballot-counting issues. Officials in Oregon and Washington are talking about a suspect an arsonist set fire to ballot boxes and undated absentee vouchers in Pennsylvania remain at the center of a legal battle.

Here’s a look at the various issues surrounding the 2024 election, including allegations of misinformation by foreign governments:

Ballot papers were damaged as a result of alleged arson

Officials in Oregon and Washington say an alleged arsonist set ballot boxes on fire earlier this week.

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

A fire in Vancouver damaged nearly 500 ballots due to a fire suppression system failure. Election commission officials are sending new ballots to affected voters, but about six could not be identified and others may have been completely burned.

In Oregon, Portland police spokesman Mike Banner said the suspect is described as a white man in his 30s to 40s, with short or balding hair, a thin to medium build and a thin face. The New York Times and ABC Newsciting anonymous sources, reports that a message reading “Free Gaza” appeared on devices used in Monday’s arson attacks.

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

Fake election fraud videos, false claims related to Russia

U.S. intelligence officials say numerous fake videos showing election fraud were linked to a Russian disinformation campaign because Russia is trying to help Trump defeat Vice President Kamala Harris at the elections.

One video allegedly shows a someone who said he was a recent immigrant from Haiti and a friend who voted twice for Harris in Georgia. According to a statement by US law enforcement and intelligence agencies, “Russian actors of influence” were behind this video.

Another video that accused Harris and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, of whistleblowing, now indicted music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs According to a joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the bribery raid was also found to be fabricated by Russian actors and fake.

Another featured video mail-in ballots are being destroyed in Bucks County, Pennsylvaniathe suburbs of a key battlefield. According to US officials, the video was created and filmed by Russian actors.

The Trump campaign has accused a British political party of meddling

Last month, Trump’s campaign filed a lawsuit against Britain’s ruling Labor Party, accusing it of meddling in the U.S. election after chief operating officer Sophia Patel admitted on LinkedIn that dozens of party staffers helped campaign for Harris.

It is not illegal for aliens to participate as campaign volunteers in U.S. elections, provided they do not receive any compensation, pursuant to FEC rules. The Prime Minister of Great Britain, Keir Starmer, said that the current and former employees of the Labor Party conducted the election campaign in their free time and in a personal capacity.

The complaint against Trump’s campaign accused Labor Party officials of “blatant foreign interference” and questioned whether “illegal foreign campaign facilitation and interference” took place.

A Chinese national is accused of voting in Michigan

The Chinese national studying at the University of Michigan, whose name was not released by officials, is in charged after allegedly voting illegally.

This is reported by the Detroit News A vote is still expected to be counted because there is no way to remove it from the system once it has been tabulated, which is a safeguard to protect voter privacy and prevent individual votes from being tied to voters.

The student registered to vote Sunday using a school ID and signed a document certifying he is a U.S. citizen, the Michigan Secretary of State’s office said. Detroit news. Officials in Michigan did not say whether the vote was related to attempted foreign election interference.

“Let this be clear: voting records are public – any non-citizen who attempts to vote fraudulently in Michigan will put themselves at great risk and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Washtenaw County District Attorney. – said in the statement of Eli Savita.

“Voting by non-citizens is an extremely isolated and rare phenomenon. Investigations in many states and across the country have found no evidence of large numbers of noncitizens registering to vote. Non-citizens actually vote even less often.”

Other potential issues with newsletters are in the news

Contributors: John Bacon, Josh Mayer, Bart Jansen, Kim Jelmgaard, Maureen Groppe and Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY