WASHINGTON (AP) — Four weeks ahead of Election Day, senior national security officials provided fresh assurances about the integrity of the elections in a video message Tuesday, putting them at odds with President Donald Trump’s efforts to discredit the vote.
“I’m here to tell you that my confidence in the security of your vote has never been higher,” Chris Krebs, the director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, said in the video message.
“That’s because of an all-of-nation, unprecedented election security effort over the last several years.”
The video appeared to be aimed at soothing jangled nerves of voters ahead of an election made unique by an expected surge in mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Though Trump was not mentioned during the nine-minute video, the message from the speakers served as a tacit counter to his repeated efforts, including in last week’s presidential debate, to allege widespread fraud in the mail ballot process and to preemptively cast doubt in the legitimacy of the election.
The video was released as U.S. officials have revealed efforts to interfere in the election, including Russian attempts to denigrate Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
A recent blog post by Microsoft described hacking attempts by Russia, China and Iran.
