Election officials brace for foreign threats — and an unpredictable Washington

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With the midterms just days away, the channels for federal officials to communicate foreign threats to election officials are at their weakest since the 2016 vote, numerous sources who work in elections told CNN.

US intelligence officials are tracking familiar efforts by Russia, China and Iran to influence American voters, but cuts to federal programs have hobbled officials’ ability to relay that information to election officials, according to interviews with nearly a dozen election security experts.

A last-minute Department of Homeland Security effort to create an online platform to share threat intelligence doesn’t have anywhere near the same credibility with election officials as in past election cycles, people familiar with the matter said. And in mid-October, a much-anticipated classified briefing for election officials, the first since the 2024 presidential election cycle, was marred by technical difficulties , as federal officials were unable to get the video call to work. (The briefing was rescheduled and occurred without those difficulties.)

DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has been at the center of those eleventh-hour security preparations. CISA took on a big role defending elections in President Donald Trump’s first term, including warning election officials during the 2020 vote about foreign influence operations. But the agency was gutted during Trump’s second term. In recent months, the administration has tried to rebuild its election-security work, though to little effect, sources told CNN.

The administration’s pursuit of election-fraud conspiracies and its willingness to intervene in state-run elections have also left election administrators across the country skeptical of its political motivations and unsure of what it may attempt.

“The relationship between elections officials and the federal government has broken down,” said Ryan Macias, a longtime election security expert and former consultant to CISA. “In many cases, the elections officials don’t even know who to contact when [a cyber or physical] incident occurs.”

That means information-sharing has dried up, said David Becker, another elections expert who works with officials from both parties.

“I don’t know a single election official — Democrat or Republican — who is actively sharing cybersecurity information with the feds this time around,” added Becker, a former Justice Department attorney who is co-founder of the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research. “That’s in stark contrast to the past four federal elections.”

In past elections, CISA has overseen a robust coordination center to communicate threats to election officials and receive information from them on Election Day. The agency has scrambled in recent weeks to try to stand up a new information-sharing channel with election officials.

But the initiative is unlikely to have the traction or trust it had with election officials in the past, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

A CISA spokesperson told CNN on Friday that the agency had launched an “information-sharing tool” and that “authorized federal, state, and local government partners are granted access daily upon their request.” CISA did not reply to CNN’s questions of how many election officials have accessed the platform.

It all makes for a complicated threat environment for election security officials, who are facing AI-fueled foreign disinformation alongside a federal government that is less predictable and reliable than in elections past, sources told CNN.

“Foreign adversaries haven’t stepped back from our elections,” one former CISA official told CNN. “The federal government has abandoned [election officials]. The election officials I talk to are still worried about foreign interference, but they’re getting no information from the feds, and they are doing their best in filling the gap themselves.”

The feelings of federal neglect aren’t unique to election officials.

The new owner of Dominion Voting Systems, which has election equipment in 26 states, told CNN the lack of cybersecurity support from the Trump administration has been “disappointing.”

Scott Leiendecker, an election industry veteran who bought Dominion last year and rebranded it as Liberty Vote, said the assistance from federal authorities has been lacking compared with past years.

“We haven’t had the same interactions that we’ve had in the past,” Leiendecker said. “I’m hoping that dialogue will be improved in the future.”

After the 2020 election, many of Trump’s allies falsely claimed Dominion’s machines rigged the results. Fox News paid the company more than $787 million in 2023 to settle a defamation case about those conspiracy theories.

“CISA remains fully equipped and prepared to address any national security cyber threats that face our nation,” the CISA spokesperson said in response to questions about election security for this article. “Upon request, CISA provides state and local election officials and election vendors with voluntary, no-cost services, including technical expertise, vulnerability scanning, and resilience-building support,” the spokesperson added.

Antranik Tavitian/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Among some election security experts, there are questions about whether state and local officials are diverting precious time and resources from preparing for foreign influence threats to account for the potential of interference from the Trump administration, even as US intelligence assessments indicate that America’s adversaries remain active in the final stretch of the campaign.

Election officials across the country have spent months, if not years, preparing for credible threats by the Trump administration to intervene in midterm elections. Those necessary preparations mean working with legal counsel to understand the scope and limits of federal authorities over elections and planning for a range of scenarios, said Jennifer Morrell, co-founder of the nonpartisan Elections Group, which offers training and guidance for election officials around the country.

“Meanwhile, foreign interference and cyber threats haven’t gone away,” she told CNN. “My concern is that this added pressure further wears down the people who are our first line of defense.”

With all the preparations ahead of the midterms, even the best-trained election staff are more vulnerable when they’re tired, according to Morrell, a former election official in Colorado and Utah. “That’s when mistakes can happen and phishing attempts are more likely to succeed.”

Some election officials told CNN their work preparing for foreign threats remains the same.

“Our office has not shifted in its focus or approach to preventing foreign interference in our election process,” Lindsey Bachman, a spokesperson or the New Mexico secretary of state’s office, told CNN.

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As in prior election cycles, Russia is trying to use disinformation to denigrate Democratic candidates in the midterms, while China is focused on down-ballot candidates who are seen as anti-China, according to people briefed on US intelligence assessments.

Federal officials are also keeping an eye on Russia-aligned “hacktivists” who used cheap cyberattacks to knock election-related websites offline ahead of the 2022 midterms.

In recent weeks , suspected Russian operatives have posted a wave of AI-altered videos on X attacking Democratic candidates in the final weeks of the midterms, according to private firms that track the activity. One such video includes a fabricated claim of sexual assault against James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee in Texas.

“The Russians are kind of throwing everything out there … to generate a sense of chaos and anarchy,” Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters last month. “The Chinese … have always been extremely targeted in their influence efforts. We have no reason to believe that they’re not continuing that activity.”

US officials are also wary of Iran’s hackers and trolls, who have a reputation for being unpredictable and brazen. It’s the first major US election since the US-Iran war began in February .

Ryan Murphy/AFP/Getty Images

In 2020, Tehran sought to undermine Trump’s election prospects through “a multi-pronged covert influence campaign,” according to a US intelligence assessment . That included an aggressive effort to intimidate voters by impersonating the far-right Proud Boys group.

Foreign operatives are sometimes less active during midterm cycles compared with presidential elections, and Tehran has been relatively quiet so far in the midterms.

Nonetheless, Himes said, Iran understands “that they have a massive lever right now to influence the election, and they’re using it. And that of course is the price of oil.”

Crude oil remained over $100 a barrel on Friday, and Americans have faced months of high gas prices amid lingering security concerns in the Middle East.

One question mark hanging over Iran’s approach to the US midterms has been the state of the war, which Trump has threatened to reignite .

Iran’s hackers and trolls are “very opportunistic” but also “reactionary,” said an analyst for New York-based threat intelligence firm Graphika who requested anonymity for security reasons. A real or perceived threat from the US to Iran around the election could trigger Iranian operatives to be more active in the midterms, the analyst said.

There is also a deficit of experts in elections at the federal level, as multiple former election officials who worked at CISA were forced out in 2025.

On top of that, the language used by some Trump political appointees to describe security weaknesses in election infrastructure has betrayed a lack of understanding of how elections work, according to experts. That has not instilled confidence in election officials that the feds are on top of the threats.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told CISA employees Tuesday that the midterms will be secure while making vague, unsubstantiated claims about vulnerabilities in election systems.

Annabelle Gordon/CNP/Bloomberg/Getty Images

“Our job is to make sure that it’s a legal ballot and it’s counted,” Mullin said, according to a recording of his remarks shared with CNN. “Our job is to make sure there’s not vulnerabilities where bad actors can get into the system and change the vote.”

Election officials at the local level, not federal officials, count votes.

Mullin also cast doubt on past elections , alleging there had been a “tremendous amount of harm” done by unnamed “vulnerabilities” and “voting procedures” in elections. He did not provide any evidence.

Asked about Mullin’s remarks, a DHS spokesperson told CNN: “State and local election officials administer elections, determine ballot validity under state law, and count ballots. CISA helps protect the systems and infrastructure they rely on so they can carry out that work securely and without disruption.”

A White House task force run by conservative journalist John Solomon has over several months released hundreds of declassified documents, some of which Trump has used to cast doubt on election integrity.

Election officials who previously shared cybersecurity information with federal officials in confidence are essentially being “re-victimized” through the White House document releases because the information is being used to question the integrity of elections, argued Michael Moore, the chief information security officer for Arizona’s secretary of state office.

Solomon said in a statement to CNN: “These are matters of significant public importance and well worthy of the transparency they received from the White House.”

“If we politicize threat intelligence sharing, people are going to stop doing it,” Moore told CNN.

CNN’s Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.

凯莉·格林利/路透社

距离中期选举仅剩几天，多位在选举部门工作的消息人士告诉 CNN，联邦官员向选举官员传达外国威胁的渠道是自 2016 年大选以来最薄弱的。

据近十位选举安全专家的采访显示，美国情报官员正在追踪俄罗斯、中国和伊朗影响美国选民的惯常举措，但联邦项目的削减削弱了官员们将这些信息传递给选举官员的能力。

知情人士透露，国土安全部仓促建立的用于共享威胁情报的在线平台，其在选举官员中的可信度远不及以往选举周期。10月中旬，一场备受瞩目的选举官员机密简报会——自2024年总统大选周期以来的首次——因技术故障而受阻，联邦官员无法正常进行视频通话。（简报会后重新安排，并顺利举行。）

美国国土安全部网络安全和基础设施安全局（CISA）一直是这些紧急安全准备工作的核心。在唐纳德·特朗普总统的第一任期内，CISA在保护选举方面发挥了重要作用，包括在2020年大选期间向选举官员发出外国干预行动的警告。但在特朗普的第二任期内，该机构遭到严重削弱。据CNN报道，近几个月来，特朗普政府试图重建其选举安全工作，但收效甚微。

该政府对选举舞弊阴谋的追查以及其干预州级选举的意愿，也让全国各地的选举管理人员对其政治动机持怀疑态度，并不确定它可能会采取什么行动。

“选举官员与联邦政府之间的关系已经破裂，”长期从事选举安全工作的专家、美国网络安全和基础设施安全局（CISA）前顾问瑞安·马西亚斯表示，“在很多情况下，当发生（网络或物理）事件时，选举官员甚至不知道该联系谁。”

另一位与两党官员都有合作的选举专家大卫·贝克尔表示，这意味着信息共享已经枯竭。

“我认识的选举官员——无论是民主党人还是共和党人——这次没有一个主动与联邦政府分享网络安全信息，”贝克尔补充道。他曾是司法部律师，也是非营利组织“选举创新与研究中心”的联合创始人。“这与过去四届联邦选举形成了鲜明对比。”

在以往的选举中，CISA 负责监管一个强大的协调中心，以便在选举日向选举官员通报威胁信息并接收他们的信息。最近几周，该机构一直在紧急努力，试图与选举官员建立新的信息共享渠道。

但据多位知情人士向 CNN 透露，这项倡议不太可能像过去那样获得选举官员的认可和信任。

美国网络安全和基础设施安全局（CISA）发言人周五告诉CNN，该机构已推出一款“信息共享工具”，并且“经授权的联邦、州和地方政府合作伙伴可根据自身需求每日获得访问权限”。CISA没有回复CNN关于有多少选举官员已访问过该平台的问题。

消息人士告诉 CNN，所有这些都给选举安全官员带来了复杂的威胁环境，他们不仅要面对人工智能驱动的外国虚假信息，还要面对一个不如以往选举中那样可预测和可靠的联邦政府。

一位前网络安全和基础设施安全局（CISA）官员告诉CNN：“外国敌对势力并没有停止干预我们的选举。联邦政府已经抛弃了选举官员。我接触过的选举官员仍然担心外国干预，但他们无法从联邦政府获得任何信息，只能尽力自行填补信息空白。”

感受到联邦政府忽视并非选举官员独有的感受。

Dominion Voting Systems 的新东家告诉 CNN，该公司在 26 个州拥有选举设备，但特朗普政府缺乏网络安全支持，这“令人失望”。

斯科特·莱恩德克是一位选举行业资深人士，他去年收购了 Dominion 公司并将其更名为 Liberty Vote。他表示，与往年相比，联邦当局提供的援助不足。

莱恩德克尔说：“我们之间的互动不如以往了。我希望未来对话能够有所改善。”

2020年大选后，特朗普的许多盟友错误地声称Dominion公司的机器操纵了选举结果。2023年，福克斯新闻向该公司支付了超过7.87亿美元，以了结一起关于这些阴谋论的诽谤诉讼。

“CISA 已做好充分准备，随时应对我国面临的任何国家安全网络威胁，”CISA 发言人在回答本文有关选举安全的问题时表示。“应要求，CISA 会向州和地方选举官员以及选举供应商提供自愿的免费服务，包括技术专长、漏洞扫描和弹性构建支持，”该发言人补充道。

Antranik Tavitian/Bloomberg/Getty Images

一些选举安全专家质疑，州和地方官员是否将宝贵的时间和资源从应对外国影响威胁的准备工作中转移出来，去应对特朗普政府可能进行的干预，尽管美国情报评估表明，美国的对手在竞选的最后阶段仍然很活跃。

全国各地的选举官员已经花费数月甚至数年时间为特朗普政府可能干预中期选举的威胁做准备。无党派选举组织“选举小组”（Elections Group）联合创始人詹妮弗·莫雷尔表示，这些必要的准备工作包括与法律顾问合作，了解联邦政府在选举方面的权限范围和限制，并为各种可能出现的情况制定计划。该组织为全国各地的选举官员提供培训和指导。

“与此同时，外国干预和网络威胁依然存在，”她告诉CNN。“我担心的是，这种额外的压力会进一步削弱我们第一道防线的力量。”

科罗拉多州和犹他州的前选举官员莫雷尔表示，由于中期选举前的各项准备工作，即使是训练有素的选举工作人员，在疲惫时也更容易受到攻击。“这时就容易出错，网络钓鱼攻击也更容易得逞。”

一些选举官员告诉CNN，他们应对外国威胁的工作仍然与以往相同。

新墨西哥州州务卿办公室发言人林赛·巴赫曼告诉 CNN：“我们办公室在防止外国干预我们选举进程方面的重点和方法没有改变。”

路透社/盖蒂图片社

“大作弊”：这是特朗普团队对选举结果的说法以及他们可能在11月采取的行动

据了解美国情报评估的人士透露，与以往的选举周期一样，俄罗斯正试图利用虚假信息诋毁中期选举中的民主党候选人，而中国则将重点放在被视为反华的低级别候选人身上。

联邦官员也在密切关注与俄罗斯结盟的“黑客行动主义者”，他们利用廉价的网络攻击在 2022 年中期选举前夕使与选举相关的网站下线。

据追踪此类活动的私人公司称，最近几周，疑似俄罗斯特工在X网站上发布了一系列利用人工智能技术篡改的视频，攻击民主党候选人，而此时正值中期选举的最后几周。其中一段视频捏造了针对德克萨斯州民主党参议员候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科的性侵指控。

“俄罗斯人似乎正在不遗余力地制造混乱和无政府状态，”众议院情报委员会首席民主党议员、康涅狄格州众议员吉姆·海姆斯上个月告诉记者。“中国……在影响力活动方面一直目标明确。我们没有理由相信他们没有继续开展这种活动。”

美国官员也对伊朗的黑客和网络水军保持警惕，这些人以行事难以预测和肆无忌惮而臭名昭著。这是自2月份美伊战争爆发以来美国举行的首次重大选举。

Ryan Murphy/AFP/Getty Images

根据美国情报部门的一份评估报告，2020年，德黑兰试图通过“多管齐下的秘密影响行动”来破坏特朗普的选举前景。这其中包括冒充极右翼组织“骄傲男孩”来恐吓选民的激进举措。

与总统选举相比，外国特工在中期选举周期中的活动有时会减少，而德黑兰在中期选举中迄今为止也相对平静。

不过，希姆斯表示，伊朗明白“他们现在拥有影响选举的巨大筹码，而且他们正在利用它。而这筹码当然就是石油价格。”

周五原油价格仍高于每桶 100 美元，而由于中东地区持续存在的安全问题，美国人已经面临数月的高油价。

伊朗对美国中期选举的态度一直存在一个疑问，那就是战争的现状，特朗普曾威胁要重新挑起这场战争。

一位因安全原因要求匿名的纽约威胁情报公司Graphika的分析师表示，伊朗的黑客和网络水军“非常善于投机”，但也“反应过度”。这位分析师说，美国在选举前后对伊朗构成的实际或潜在威胁，可能会促使伊朗特工在中期选举中更加活跃。

联邦层面的选举专家也存在短缺，因为多位曾在 CISA 工作的选举官员在 2025 年被迫离职。

此外，专家指出，一些特朗普任命的政治官员在描述选举基础设施安全漏洞时所使用的措辞，暴露出他们对选举运作方式缺乏了解。这导致选举官员对联邦政府能否有效应对威胁缺乏信心。

国土安全部长马克韦恩·穆林周二告诉网络安全和基础设施安全局 (CISA) 的员工，中期选举将是安全的，但他同时对选举系统的漏洞发表了含糊不清、未经证实的说法。

Annabelle Gordon/CNP/Bloomberg/Getty Images

据CNN获得的一段录音显示，穆林表示：“我们的职责是确保选票合法有效，并且每张选票都被计入。我们的职责是确保系统不存在漏洞，防止不法分子入侵并篡改选票。”

计票工作由地方选举官员负责，而不是联邦官员。

穆林还对过去的选举提出质疑，声称选举中存在一些未指明的“漏洞”和“投票程序”，造成了“巨大的损害”。但他没有提供任何证据。

针对穆林的言论，国土安全部发言人告诉CNN：“州和地方选举官员负责管理选举，根据州法律确定选票的有效性，并清点选票。网络安全和基础设施安全局（CISA）帮助保护他们所依赖的系统和基础设施，以便他们能够安全、无中断地开展工作。”

由保守派记者约翰·所罗门领导的白宫特别工作组在几个月的时间里公布了数百份解密文件，其中一些文件被特朗普用来质疑选举的公正性。

亚利桑那州州务卿办公室首席信息安全官迈克尔·摩尔认为，此前与联邦官员私下分享网络安全信息的选举官员，实际上正因白宫文件泄露而“再次受到伤害”，因为这些信息正被用来质疑选举的公正性。

所罗门在给 CNN 的一份声明中表示：“这些都是具有重大公共意义的问题，完全值得白宫给予透明的信息。”

“如果我们把威胁情报共享政治化，人们就会停止这样做，”摩尔告诉 CNN。

CNN的马歇尔·科恩对本报道亦有贡献。