The Trump administration reiterated its view that China’s alleged efforts to collect millions of American voter registration files constituted election interference, an allegation leveled by President Donald Trump in a primetime address. According to a fact sheet released by the White House Government Transparency Task Force, the People’s Republic of China and its proxies bought, stole, or hacked as many as 220 million Americans’ voter registration data.
White House Alleges China Acquired 220 Million Voter Records
The collection included non-publicly available data, according to the fact sheet, which was approved by the directors of the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. An administration official stated that the U.S. intelligence community believes China purchased, stole, or hacked files, but it cannot confirm what percentage was taken through each method. Officials stated that China’s effort lasted several years, with tens of millions of files obtained from 18 states in 2020 and reaching 220 million files by 2023. Additionally, the intelligence community flagged a Chinese Computer Network Exploitation actor in 2022 for acquiring voter registration data stored on commercial websites.
Intelligence Definitions and Debate Over Potential Risks
The newly declassified documents provide the official definition used by the intelligence community for election interference, which includes a foreign power targeting voter registration infrastructure or data. The definition states that election influence involves overt and covert activities intended to affect a U.S. election directly or indirectly, while election interference is a subset targeted at technical aspects including voter registration, casting and counting ballots, and reporting results.
President Trump called China’s collection of voter rolls the largest compromise of election data in history. However, election experts pushed back, noting that voter registration files are public and easily accessible in many states, and obtaining them would not necessarily allow foreign actors to interfere with the voting process. States maintain different rules regarding what information is public, with some releasing phone numbers and dates of birth while others keep them confidential.
The intelligence documents detail potential malign activities, stating: Adversaries could alter data to potentially prevent individual voters or groups of voters from voting, causing delays on election day or forcing voters to use provisional ballots. Adversaries could also use the registration data — which in some cases is also available publicly or for purchase — to tailor other interference or influence efforts.
Election experts noted that public voter files cannot be used to modify registration records, and the National Intelligence Council assessed after the 2020 election that no foreign actors attempted to alter voter elections. Furthermore, the newly released documents do not show that China used the data to interfere in the 2020 election or that votes, voting machines, or the election outcome were altered.
Administration Push for Election Security Measures
The administration argues that the potential for foreign adversaries to exploit election systems remains cause for concern. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin emphasized the administration’s push for additional election security measures, stating that software vulnerabilities and broader weaknesses in information technology networks supporting election operations present risks. Mullin stated that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will release an updated election infrastructure plan within 30 days as part of these security efforts.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., stated that it has adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations. Meanwhile, critics argue that the declassified material does not substantiate President Trump’s allegations of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, while supporters maintain the documents reinforce the need for stronger safeguards.
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