'This U.S. Election Could Be the Most Secure Yet' says The New York Times 'Stressed Election'

I told my readers to "Stay tuned" to conclude The New York Times 'Stressed Election' visits Michigan to ask 'What's the Problem With Vote-by-Mail?' That's because "This video is part of a four-part series. Two other parts about voting rights and election security are already out with one more installment about disinformation still to come. I plan on posting about all of them." Last night's news that Iran and Russia obtained U.S. voter registration data in effort to influence the election itself influenced me to share something reassuring about the vote count, This U.S. Election Could Be the Most Secure Yet. Here’s Why.

With early voting underway, states are working to reassure voters that their ballots will be counted as cast. Our video shows how states’ responses to Russian hacking and the coronavirus crisis have helped make the election more secure than ever.

One of the producer-narrators left a comment that elaborated on the video.

Hello - I am Kassie Bracken. My colleague Alex Eaton and I produced this video looking at the recent history of our voting systems, and why some experts think this could be the most secure election yet when it comes to technology. It's also a journey showing how paper has come full circle in the past 20 years. Remember the chads in 2000 (if not, you'll learn more about them here)? Well, they set off a chain of events that still resonate in our security today. Voting technology is one important aspect of how we vote — please watch the other episodes in our series "Stressed Election" where we cover the impact of voting laws, voting by mail and the effect of disinformation on our elections.

The good news is that the vote count itself is probably more secure from foreign interference and other hacks. The bad news is that what Iran did was not hacking the vote count or election software. It was a disinformation campaign.

“This data can be used by foreign actors to attempt to communicate false information to registered voters that they hope will cause confusion, sow chaos and undermine your confidence in American democracy.”

Specifically, Ratcliffe said, Iran has been sending “spoofed emails designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest and damage President” Donald Trump, who is facing former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, in the election.

“Additionally Iran is distributing other content to include a video that implies that individuals could cast fraudulent ballots even from overseas,” he said.

“This video and any claims about such allegedly fraudulent ballots are not true,” Ratcliffe said.

He added that “these actions are desperate attempts by desperate adversaries. Even if the adversaries pursue further attempts to intimidate or attempt to undermine voter confidence, know that our election systems are resilient and you can be confident that your votes are secure.”

That's exactly the message I want to reinforce tonight.

I have only two installments of "Stressed Election" left to post, one on voting rights, which came out at the end of last month, and the final one on disinformation, which I expect will be uploaded next week. I plan on getting to both. In the meantime, stay tuned for National TV Talk Show Day the day after tonight's presidential debate. Drink up!