US President Donald Trump has declassified documents which, he claims, provide evidence of Chinese interference in the US elections. He alleged that Beijing had illegally obtained 220 million voter records and called on Congress to tighten voting regulations. However, a 2021 US intelligence assessment found no evidence of attempts to alter the technical aspects of the 2020 election.
Briefly about the main points
- Trump claimed that China had illegally obtained 220 million files on American voters.
- The 2021 intelligence assessment found no changes to voter registrations, ballot papers or results.
- Some of the declassified material contradicts the claim that the system is vulnerable.
- Trump has once again called for the SAVE America Act to be passed.
- China has denied any interference in the US presidential election.
What the declassified documents contain
In a 25-minute evening address Donald Trump stated that the documents would reveal «shocking vulnerabilities» in the electoral infrastructure. He also claimed that members of the intelligence community had allegedly concealed information about the scale of China’s activities.
However, the documents that have been made public do not unequivocally support this conclusion. One CIA document, drawn up last month, concerned the elections in Venezuela, rather than in the US. Another document states that it would be difficult to alter the vote-counting systems on such a large scale as to compromise the election results.
Another CIA document described attempts by Chinese spies to target the campaign Joe Biden. At the same time, it states that Beijing had no intention at that time of secretly interfering to influence the outcome of the election, although it might have changed its mind later.
Intelligence assessment of the 2020 election
An unclassified US intelligence assessment, published in 2021, found no evidence that any foreign state had attempted or succeeded in altering the technical aspects of the 2020 presidential election. This covers voter registration, ballot papers, vote counting and the results.
This assessment was carried out on the basis of John Ratcliffe, who was then Director of National Intelligence under Trump and is now Director of the CIA. The report also stated that, since at least 2008, China had been gathering information on American voters, public opinion, political parties, candidates and senior officials — presumably to predict election results.
Two sources speaking to Reuters who are familiar with the situation said that the voter data obtained by China was not confidential: political consultants regularly purchase such files. According to them, this data could not have been used for manipulation.
New voting requirements
During his address, Trump once again called on Republicans to support the SAVE America Act. The bill provides for mandatory photo ID for voting, proof of citizenship at the time of registration, and significant restrictions on postal voting.
Trump also said that his administration had identified more than 275,000 non-citizens registered to vote in four states. It was not clear how many of them had actually voted. The studies cited Reuters, indicate that instances of non-citizens actually casting votes are extremely rare, and that citizenship verification systems have sometimes mistakenly identified naturalised Americans as non-citizens.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives has already passed the bill several times by a simple majority. In the Senate, the bill does not have the 60 votes needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster. Democrats and voting rights advocates believe the initiative is aimed at restricting legitimate votes.
An election-related topic in the run-up to the by-elections
Trump’s statement came on the eve of the November by-elections, in which the Republicans will be defending a narrow majority in Congress. The Democrats need to win just three Republican seats to take control of the House of Representatives, whilst the battle for the Senate is made more difficult for them by key contests in states with Republican majorities.
The President has not provided any evidence that specific votes were altered in 2020. Previous court proceedings and recounts found no evidence of widespread fraud in that election. According to an April Reuters/Ipsos poll, 63% of Republicans believe Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen.
Two of the three leading US television networks and CNN did not broadcast the address on their main platforms. Meanwhile, Trump’s harsh rhetoric towards China could complicate relations that had stabilised following last year’s trade war: the president is hoping to meet with the Chinese president Xi Jinping in September to discuss ways of improving trade relations. Before making its statement, the Chinese side denied any interference in the US presidential election.
