Trump Falsely Alleges Voting Machines Are 'Vulnerable' and 'Easily Compromised'

President Trump asserted in a recent speech that voting machines and ballot-counting systems are "extremely exposed to attack," referencing declassified White House intelligence. He claimed these systems are "vulnerable and they're easily compromised, and people within our government knew that."

However, a significant portion of the intelligence Trump pointed to concerns election systems from a company not widely used in the United States. Experts emphasize that U.S. voting machines are subject to rigorous controls. They are typically not connected to the internet and, in most states, are supported by paper ballots or receipts that allow for manual audits to verify results.

"They're under lock and key until they are publicly tested to make sure they haven't been tampered with," said David Becker, Executive Director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. "And then they are used and we still don't trust them. We have those paper ballots."

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They're vulnerable and they're easily compromised, and people within our government knew that.

Trump specifically cited CIA intelligence about a plot to manipulate voting machines in Venezuela. This intelligence pertains to election systems made by Smartmatic. While Smartmatic technology is used in Los Angeles County, it is not prevalent across the U.S. Smartmatic has stated it ceased operations in Venezuela in 2017, after its technology helped expose false government turnout numbers.

Furthermore, a January 2020 National Intelligence Council memo, which Trump appeared to reference, acknowledges that U.S. adversaries possess the "capability" to compromise election infrastructure, particularly voter registration databases. However, the memo clarifies that systems used for vote tabulation or displaying results would be "difficult to manipulate on a wide enough scale to compromise election results."

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They're under lock and key until they are publicly tested to make sure they haven't been tampered with. And then they are used and we still don't trust them. We have those paper ballots.