Politico, New York Times warn of voting hacks, Russian bots ahead of midterms

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Recent reports from The New York Times, Politico and Reuters all promoted potential security threats to the midterm elections in the final days leading up to Election Day on Tuesday.

Although the 2020 presidential election has been referred to as "the most secure in American history," mainstream media outlets have expressed concerns over the upcoming 2022 elections being influenced by foreign interference and "misinformation," much like was alleged after the 2016 presidential election and before 2020.

For example, the New York Times featured a piece on Sunday that said researchers "identified a series of Russian information operations" that have been "reactivated" since the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

"It is part of what the group and other researchers have identified as a new, though more narrowly targeted, Russian effort ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections. The goal, as before, is to stoke anger among conservative voters and to undermine trust in the American electoral system. This time, it also appears intended to undermine the Biden administration’s extensive military assistance to Ukraine," Times correspondent Steven Lee Myers reported. 

A voting sign is seen before a Democratic Senate Candidate Raphael Warnock (D-GA) Get Out the Vote rally at Bearfoot Tavern on November 07, 2022 in Macon, Georgia.  (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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He added, "The campaigns show not only how vulnerable the American political system remains to foreign manipulation but also how purveyors of disinformation have evolved and adapted to efforts by the major social media platforms to remove or play down false or deceptive content."

Politico’s cybersecurity reporter Eric Geller wrote an article Monday highlighting "6 election security threats to watch for on Election Day."

"The midterms face a bevy of digital threats, from stolen Twitter accounts to hacked election websites, that could spark chaos, confusion and unrest that last long after the polls close," Geller wrote. "The 2020 presidential election was rife with allegations of voting machine hacks that were later debunked. Yet there are real risks that hackers could tunnel into voting equipment and other election infrastructure to try to undermine Tuesday’s vote."

Media outlets have begun speculating Russian attempts to influence the 2022 midterm elections. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Reuters also expressed a similar sentiment when reporting that Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin admitted that "he had interfered in U.S. elections and would continue doing so in future."

"Commenting on attempts by Russian trolls and bots to influence the election, Sam Greene, a professor of Russian politics at King's College in London, said he thought the goal was to try to shape the agenda on Ukraine that Republicans will pursue after the vote," Reuters reported.

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These reports followed attacks from both media outlets and Democratic politicians over the past two years against "election deniers" or people concerned over election security following the 2020 election. In addition, many mainstream outlets have ignored examples of Democrats questioning or denying past elections.

President Joe Biden claimed that "MAGA Republicans" who deny elections are a "threat to democracy." (Patrick Semansky / AP Newsroom)

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President Biden has attempted to reframe the 2022 midterm elections as a battle for "democracy" claiming that "MAGA Republicans" who deny election results threaten Americans’ rights to a free and fair election.