In the race for the White House, these seven so-called pivotal states (Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin) hold the key to voting by indirect universal suffrage. But ” Russia is the most active threat » in these states, accused the Federal Police (FBI), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in a joint statement.
« These attempts risk inciting violence, including against election officials », these services are alarmed.
According to the ODNI, a video recently circulated on social networks with an interview with a person claiming that fraud with false ballots and alterations of electoral lists was to favor Kamala Harris in Arizona. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes called the video “ completely bogus “. His state, considered a bastion of electoral conspiracy, took measures to protect its electoral agents and voting operations.
Congress, the other vote that counts
His counterpart in Georgia (southeast), Brad Raffensperger, reported Thursday that “ video purporting to show Haitian immigrant with multiple Georgia ID cards and claiming to have voted multiple times “. The FBI, ODNI and CISA had confirmed that “ Russian agents of influence had fabricated » this video.
Russia denounces “baseless allegations »
For its part, Moscow qualified these “baseless allegations » et “all insinuations about 'Russian machinations' (as) malicious slander “. However, this is not the first time during this American presidential campaign that Washington has accused Moscow, but also Tehran, of engaging in disinformation operations on social networks in order to provoke unrest.
In mid-September, the Microsoft group also pointed the finger at Russia for disinformation operations. At the end of August, Storm-1516, an influence group allied to the Kremlin, produced two fake videos to discredit the campaign of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz, the American group said in a report.
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As during Donald Trump's victorious campaign in 2016, Russia denied any destabilizing activity on the internet and assured “ respect the will of the American people ».
Americans doubt the integrity of the electoral system
THE ” swing states “, which can swing to one side or the other, are already the target of allegations by Republicans of ” cheats » and “ cheats », which would be led by Democrats. More than a third of Americans have doubts about the integrity of the electoral system, according to opinion polls. This distrust particularly affects Republican voters.
Distrust was not born with Donald Trump: after losing in 2016, Hillary Clinton was already questioning the legitimacy of her opponent, invoking possible Russian manipulation. But Trump's refusal to concede defeat in 2020 pushed the United States into another era, according to Claire Woodall, expert at the transpartisan Issue One institute. “ We've really started to see a specific rethinking of how elections are administered “, she summarizes.
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With dramatic consequences on the ground, she recalls. Threats, harassment and attacks against electoral officials led to resignations everywhere in the country. Nevada and Arizona, two key states where Joe Biden won by 10,500 and 33,000 votes respectively, are particularly concerned by this phenomenon, according to a report from Issue One.
(With AFP)
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