{"682964":{"#nid":"682964","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Cyberattacks Shake Voters\u2019 Trust in Elections, Regardless of\u00a0Party","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAmerican democracy runs on trust, and that trust is cracking.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENearly half of Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, question whether elections are \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/651185\/partisan-split-election-integrity-gets-even-wider.aspx\u0022\u003Econducted fairly\u003C\/a\u003E. Some voters accept election results only \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/worldjusticeproject.org\/our-work\/research-and-data\/rule-law-united-states\u0022\u003Ewhen their side wins\u003C\/a\u003E. The problem isn\u2019t just political polarization \u2013 it\u2019s a creeping \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/politics\/2018\/10\/29\/elections-in-america-concerns-over-security-divisions-over-expanding-access-to-voting\/\u0022\u003Eerosion of trust\u003C\/a\u003E in the machinery of democracy itself.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommentators blame ideological tribalism, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/01\/09\/business\/media\/election-disinformation-2024.html\u0022\u003Emisinformation campaigns\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/06\/15\/opinion\/social-media-polarization-democracy.html\u0022\u003Epartisan echo chambers\u003C\/a\u003E for this crisis of trust. But these explanations miss a critical piece of the puzzle: a growing unease with the digital infrastructure that now underpins nearly every aspect of how Americans vote.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe digital transformation of American elections has been swift and sweeping. Just two decades ago, most people voted using mechanical levers or punch cards. Today, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/electionlab.mit.edu\/research\/voting-technology\u0022\u003Eover 95% of ballots\u003C\/a\u003E are counted electronically. Digital systems have replaced poll books, taken over voter identity verification processes and are integrated into registration, counting, auditing and voting systems.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis technological leap has made voting more accessible and efficient, and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/voting-has-never-been-more-secure-than-it-is-right-now\/\u0022\u003Esometimes more secure\u003C\/a\u003E. But these new systems are also more complex. And that complexity plays into the hands of those looking to undermine democracy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn recent years, authoritarian regimes have refined a \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/china-midterms-elections-influence-nord-hacking\/\u0022\u003Echillingly effective strategy\u003C\/a\u003E to chip away at Americans\u2019 faith in democracy by relentlessly sowing doubt about the tools U.S. states use to conduct elections. It\u2019s a sustained \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/articles\/misinformation-is-eroding-the-publics-confidence-in-democracy\/\u0022\u003Ecampaign to fracture civic faith\u003C\/a\u003E and make Americans believe that democracy is rigged, especially when their side loses.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is not cyberwar in the traditional sense. There\u2019s no evidence that anyone has managed to break into voting machines and alter votes. But cyberattacks on election systems don\u2019t need to succeed to have an effect. Even a single failed intrusion, magnified by sensational headlines and political echo chambers, is enough to shake public trust. By feeding into existing anxiety about the complexity and opacity of digital systems, adversaries create \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/01\/business\/media\/china-online-disinformation-us-election.html\u0022\u003Efertile ground for disinformation and conspiracy theories\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cfigure\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ciframe width=\u0022440\u0022 height=\u0022260\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ebhqDNPjitU?wmode=transparent\u0026amp;start=0\u0022 frameborder=\u00220\u0022 allowfullscreen=\u0022\u0022\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cfigcaption\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022caption\u0022\u003EJust before the 2024 presidential election, Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Jen Easterly explains how foreign influence campaigns erode trust in U.S. elections.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Ch2\u003ETesting Cyber Fears\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo test this dynamic, we launched a study to uncover precisely how cyberattacks corroded trust in the vote during the 2024 U.S. presidential race. We surveyed more than 3,000 voters before and after election day, testing them using a series of fictional but highly realistic breaking news reports depicting cyberattacks against critical infrastructure. We randomly assigned participants to watch different types of news reports: some depicting cyberattacks on election systems, others on unrelated infrastructure such as the power grid, and a third, neutral control group.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe results, which are under peer review, were both striking and sobering. Mere exposure to reports of cyberattacks \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1M0iGIYk_WsxumppZ4ZEVAANS4CC9lTaQ\/view\u0022\u003Eundermined trust in the electoral process\u003C\/a\u003E \u2013 regardless of partisanship. Voters who supported the losing candidate experienced the greatest drop in trust, with two-thirds of Democratic voters showing heightened skepticism toward the election results.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut winners too showed diminished confidence. Even though most Republican voters, buoyed by their victory, accepted the overall security of the election, the majority of those who viewed news reports about cyberattacks remained suspicious.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe attacks didn\u2019t even have to be related to the election. Even cyberattacks against critical infrastructure such as utilities had spillover effects. Voters seemed to extrapolate: \u201cIf the power grid can be hacked, why should I believe that voting machines are secure?\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStrikingly, voters who used digital machines to cast their ballots were the most rattled. For this group of people, belief in the accuracy of the vote count fell by nearly twice as much as that of voters who cast their ballots by mail and who didn\u2019t use any technology. Their firsthand experience with the sorts of systems being portrayed as vulnerable personalized the threat.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s not hard to see why. When you\u2019ve just used a touchscreen to vote, and then you see a news report about a digital system being breached, the leap in logic isn\u2019t far.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOur data suggests that in a digital society, perceptions of trust \u2013 and distrust \u2013 are fluid, contagious and easily activated. The cyber domain isn\u2019t just about networks and code. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/jogss\/ogac042\u0022\u003EIt\u2019s also about emotions\u003C\/a\u003E: fear, vulnerability and uncertainty.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EFirewall of Trust\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDoes this mean we should scrap electronic voting machines? Not necessarily.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEvery election system, digital or analog, has flaws. And in many respects, today\u2019s high-tech systems have solved the problems of the past with voter-verifiable paper ballots. Modern voting machines reduce human error, increase accessibility and speed up the vote count. No one misses the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2000\/11\/12\/us\/counting-the-vote-the-ballots-after-cards-are-poked-the-confetti-can-count.html\u0022\u003Ehanging chads\u003C\/a\u003E of 2000.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut technology, no matter how advanced, cannot instill legitimacy on its own. It must be paired with something harder to code: public trust. In an environment where foreign adversaries amplify every flaw, cyberattacks can trigger spirals of suspicion. It is no longer enough for elections to be secure \u2212 voters must also \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2018\/apr\/18\/american-elections-hack-bruce-scheier\u0022\u003Eperceive them to be secure\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s why \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/08\/22\/learning\/2024-election-teaching-resources.html\u0022\u003Epublic education\u003C\/a\u003E surrounding elections is now as vital to election security as firewalls and encrypted networks. It\u2019s vital that voters understand how elections are run, how they\u2019re protected and how failures are caught and corrected. Election officials, civil society groups and researchers can teach \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/verifiedvoting.org\/audits\/\u0022\u003Ehow audits work\u003C\/a\u003E, host open-source verification demonstrations and ensure that high-tech electoral processes are comprehensible to voters.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe believe this is an essential investment in democratic resilience. But it needs to be proactive, not reactive. By the time the doubt takes hold, it\u2019s already too late.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJust as crucially, we are convinced that it\u2019s time to rethink the very nature of cyber threats. People often imagine them in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/17\/us\/politics\/china-cyber-us-infrastructure.html\u0022\u003Emilitary terms\u003C\/a\u003E. But that framework misses the true power of these threats. The danger of cyberattacks is not only that they can destroy infrastructure or steal classified secrets, but that they chip away at societal cohesion, sow anxiety and fray citizens\u2019 confidence in democratic institutions. These attacks erode the very idea of truth itself by making people doubt that anything can be trusted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf trust is the target, then we believe that elected officials should start to treat trust as a national asset: something to be built, renewed and defended. Because in the end, elections aren\u2019t just about votes being counted \u2013 they\u2019re about people believing that those votes count.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd in that belief lies the true firewall of democracy.\u003C!-- Below is The Conversation\u0027s page counter tag. 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Read the \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/cyberattacks-shake-voters-trust-in-elections-regardless-of-party-259368\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Eoriginal article\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"full_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENearly half of Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, question whether elections are conducted fairly.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Nearly half of Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, question whether elections are conducted fairly. "}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2025-06-27 13:20:43","changed_gmt":"2026-03-19 13:14:15","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-06-27T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-06-27T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"677317":{"id":"677317","type":"image","title":"Voting Machine","body":"\u003Cp\u003EVoting Machine\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1751376187","gmt_created":"2025-07-01 13:23:07","changed":"1751376187","gmt_changed":"2025-07-01 13:23:07","alt":"Voting Machine","file":{"fid":"261203","name":"file-20250623-68-5uf1q2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/07\/01\/file-20250623-68-5uf1q2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/07\/01\/file-20250623-68-5uf1q2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":395723,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/07\/01\/file-20250623-68-5uf1q2.jpg?itok=_6eV5iP0"}}},"media_ids":["677317"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/cyberattacks-shake-voters-trust-in-elections-regardless-of-party-259368","title":"Read This Article on The Conversation"}],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"658168","name":"Experts"},{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"660367","name":"School of Cybersecurity and Privacy"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71901","name":"Society and Culture"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Ch5\u003EAuthors:\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/ryan-shandler-1527508\u0022\u003ERyan Shandler\u003C\/a\u003E, Professor of Cybersecurity and International Relations, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/georgia-institute-of-technology-1310\u0022\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/anthony-j-demattee-2416603\u0022\u003EAnthony J. DeMattee\u003C\/a\u003E, Data Scientist and Adjunct Instructor, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/emory-university-1332\u0022\u003EEmory University\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/bruce-schneier-446919\u0022\u003EBruce Schneier\u003C\/a\u003E, Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/harvard-kennedy-school-3840\u0022\u003EHarvard Kennedy School\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch5\u003EMedia Contact:\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShelley Wunder-Smith\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:shelley.wunder-smith@research.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eshelley.wunder-smith@research.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}