US Cybersecurity Agency Releases Election Security Plan Ahead Of November Midterms

Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The nation’s cybersecurity agency released its election infrastructure security plan on Thursday, ahead of the November midterms set for Nov. 3.

The 13-page document outlines potential threats to voting systems and lists no-cost services that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) offers state and local officials.

“In July of this year, Secretary Mullin tasked CISA with developing the Election Infrastructure Security Plan, which had been developed to help partners defend against cyber and physical threats to election infrastructure,” it reads.

“Election security is not a partisan issue. Election security is national security.”

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had initially said the plan would be published by mid-August.

CISA, created in 2018 under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has warned states about foreign threats.

The new plan warns of software flaws, voter registration database hacks, insider threats, and physical risks like bomb threats that hit some polling places in 2024.

“Many longstanding election practices such as handling ballots in bipartisan teams of two, allowing observers to be present during ballot counting, and maintaining chain-of-custody procedures—were specifically designed to reduce the likelihood and impact of insider threats,” the plan reads.

It says longstanding practices can handle most of those problems.

“Use paper ballots that can be easily reviewed to ensure transparency, auditability, and resilience against software failures or manipulation,” the report reads.

The goal, the document states, is “to ensure the American people can trust voting systems and know that physical safety measures will be in place when they go to their assigned polling locations to cast their votes.”

It also says DHS has “consistently supported CISA’s delivery of cybersecurity and physical security services to election officials.”

The plan names no specific 2026 threats from Russia, Iran, or China.

China-Made Voting Parts

However, Mullin did say in a letter released on Aug. 27 that parts of many voting machines used in the United States are made in China.

“Voting machines with components manufactured by foreign adversaries introduce significant security risks,” Mullin said. “These vulnerabilities mean that malicious actors could potentially compromise election infrastructure at any stage of the supply chain, even before the machines are assembled or deployed. If a component is tampered with during manufacturing, it could serve as a point-of-entry for hackers, allowing for the possibility of synchronized attacks across multiple machines and jurisdictions.”

In July, the heads of four U.S. intelligence and national security agencies backed key aspects of President Donald Trump’s claim that China engaged in election interference by targeting American voter registration data.

A fact sheet released at the time by the White House Government Transparency Task Force states that China and its proxies bought, stole, or hacked voter data belonging to as many as 220 million Americans, including some information that was not publicly available.

The fact sheet notes that, for a foreign country’s actions to amount to “election interference,” they do not have to change the actual results.

“That definition includes a foreign power’s targeting of voter registration infrastructure or data,” the task force states, citing declassified documents produced by the U.S. intelligence community.