Election officials in the United States have issued a joint statement assuring the public that the elections were held fairly and that there is no evidence votes were in any way compromised, in a repudiation of claims made by President Donald Trump.
“The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and double checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result,” the statement read.
“When states have close elections, many will recount ballots. All of the states with close results in the 2020 presidential race have paper records of each vote, allowing the ability to go back and count each ballot if necessary. This is an added benefit for security and resilience. This process allows for the identification and correction of any mistakes or errors. There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”
“Other security measures like pre-election testing, state certification of voting equipment, and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC) certification of voting equipment help to build additional confidence in the voting systems used in 2020.”
“While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too. When you have questions, turn to elections officials as trusted voices as they administer elections,” it said.
Trump has claimed “tens of thousands” of votes were “stolen” from him and given to Joe Biden, who was declared President-Elect by numerous news organisations including AP and FoxNews.
The Centre for Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency which distributed the statement, comes under the Department of Homeland Security. Its director, Chris Krebs, himself tweeted the statement along with a brief summary.
“TLDR: America, we have confidence in the security of your vote, you should, to,” Krebs tweeted.
Earlier, Krebs was the subject of a Reuters story that claimed he feared he would soon be fired by the White House. Bryan Ware, the assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, confirmed to Reuters that he had handed in his resignation on Thursday. This is the latest churn in the White House following the election, after Trump fired Defence Secretary Mark Esper, with CIA Director Gina Haspel reportedly next in the firing line.
Trump’s claims of election fraud have so far not been backed by credible evidence, with a multitude of world leaders already congratulating President-Elect Biden on his victory. China waited a week before doing the same on Thursday, saying it respected the choice of the American people.
Trump’s continued refusal to accept the results has even irked former President Barack Obama, who said the support given to Trump by some Republicans could threaten US democracy.
