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US Government Sees No Evidence of Hacking in Tuesday's Elections


Courtney Parker votes on a new voting machine, Nov. 5, 2019, in Dallas, Georgia.
Courtney Parker votes on a new voting machine, Nov. 5, 2019, in Dallas, Georgia.

Voting in U.S. state and local elections on Tuesday showed no evidence of successful tampering by any foreign government, the Justice Department and six U.S. security agencies said.

But Russia, China, Iran and other adversaries of the United States will seek to meddle in U.S. elections moving forward, including through social media manipulation and cyberattacks, the agencies said.

"While at this time we have no evidence of a compromise or disruption to election infrastructure that would enable adversaries to prevent voting, change vote counts or disrupt the ability to tally votes, we continue to vigilantly monitor any threats to U.S. elections," a joint statement, signed by the heads of each agency, said.

Cliff Smith, a Ridgeland, Mississippi, poll worker, offers a voter an "I Voted" sticker after they cast their ballot, Nov. 5, 2019.
Cliff Smith, a Ridgeland, Mississippi, poll worker, offers a voter an "I Voted" sticker after they cast their ballot, Nov. 5, 2019.

The agencies have increased efforts to protect elections and a new position was created within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to focus solely on U.S. election security.

A January 2017 assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies found that Russia had meddled in the 2016 presidential election and its goals included aiding President Donald Trump.

National security experts have said they believe foreign governments will again target the 2020 presidential election in an effort to influence U.S. voters.

In February 2018, the Justice Department created the first ever Cyber Digital Task Force with the mission of protecting future U.S. elections from foreign interference.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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