US President Donald Trump has claimed that some foreign powers and non-governmental groups including Russia, China, Iran, North Korea have the ability to influence the US election process through cyber attacks. He also said that the results can be tampered with by breaking into the election system. After this statement of Trump, once again questions are being raised on the security of America’s electoral system. However, the Associated Press and election experts say that America’s election system is among the most complex and robust systems in the world. In such a situation, the question is how secure is the American election system and what security arrangements are there in it.
Why is America’s election system so different?
According to the report of Associated Press, elections in America are conducted in more than 10 thousand different constituencies instead of any one central institution. Every state conducts elections according to its own rules and in many cases the local administration also decides the rules. The US Constitution gives states the right to hold elections. Congress can make some rules, but overall responsibility for elections rests with states and local election officials. This is the reason why there is no uniform election system in the entire country.
How much is the possibility of fraud and how strong is the security?
According to the report, incidents of voter fraud can occur in America, but such cases are very rare and most of them are caught. Voting more than once, voting in someone else’s name, tampering with the ballot or giving false information is considered a serious crime. In these cases, there can be heavy fine and jail sentence. In many states, identity proof is asked for during voting, while in case of postal voting, additional security procedures like matching of signatures, witnesses or notarization are adopted.
What do the figures and reports say on the 2020 elections?
Donald Trump has been continuously claiming that the 2020 presidential election was stolen against him. However, the Associated Press reviewed every possible case of voter fraud in six key states contested by Trump in 2021. The report found fewer than 475 cases, which was not enough to change the election result. Trump’s allegations of large-scale election fraud were rejected by several courts, state election officials and his own government’s Department of Homeland Security. At that time, Trump-appointed Attorney General William Barr also said that no evidence was found that could have changed the outcome of the election.
What did China say on Trump’s allegations?
China has also reacted strongly to Donald Trump’s allegations. According to AP report, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that China has never interfered in US elections and nor does it have any such intention. He called Trump’s allegations “completely fabricated” and “baseless.” Lin Jian appealed to America to stop dragging China into its election issues and work towards improving relations between the two countries. In his address to the nation, Trump had accused China of interference in the 2020 elections, which was completely rejected by Beijing.
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