Election integrity. It's a buzzword that was born in 2020 when former President Donald Trump began claiming that it cost him the White House.
This year, there are some new concerns about outside interference from Iran, Russia and elsewhere before, during and after the opening of polls.
Just one report on the issue indicates that Chinese hackers were targeting the cell phones of Trump and GOP vice presidential nominee, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, as part of a widespread cyber espionage campaign that also saw members of the Democrats campaign targeted. Federal authorities are investigating and it remains unclear what information hackers gathered from the cyber attack or what they were even looking for.
News of the attack came after three Iranian operatives were charged with hacking Trump's presidential campaign in September as part of a sweeping effort to undermine the former president and create more doubt in the U.S. electoral system.
With the ongoing war in Ukraine, many are worried that Russia may also try to influence the election, like a 2020 Senate panel said it did in 2016. Whether Russia would try to convince voters to cast ballots for Vice President Kamala Harris or Trump is another unknown.
While none of these allegations in 2024 have anything to do with actually tossing out votes for one candidate and filling in the name of another candidate, they do have a lot to do with the kind of misinformation that influences how some voters cast their ballots.
So what exactly is being done to ensure that our election is safe and fair? Dive into the issue on the latest episode of the "On Deadline" podcast. LISTEN HERE.