The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee said that voters should have “confidence” that Tuesday’s midterm elections are secure from foreign influence.
“I think we’ve made great progress, particularly at the individual polling stations and with the tabulations of votes. So I think people should vote with confidence,” Sen. Mark Warner said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday morning.
When asked if he is expecting “some sort of attack” on Tuesday, the Virginia Democrat did not directly deny the possibility, but said it will not matter.
“I think we are much better. [The Homeland Security Department] has been doing a very good job in terms of working with individual election registrars. The fact that we have a federal, state, and local circumstance and election means that these are lots of different lines of control. But there is a good cooperative relationship,” Warner explained.
Warner said he wished the White House, after foreign influence attacks during the 2016 presidential election, had “appointed someone in charge of election security.”
President Trump and his administration have drawn some criticism for statements about 2016 election influence, particularly that done by Russia.
[Related: Justice Department to closely monitor potential voter fraud in Tuesday’s midterm elections]
Sen. @MarkWarner on election security ahead of midterms: I think we are much better. DHS has been doing a very good job in terms of working with individual election registrars…there is a good cooperative relationship pic.twitter.com/2JJbNKrZdS
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) November 4, 2018
Last month, federal national security agencies said they are concerned about “ongoing campaigns” by Russia, China and Iran to interfere in U.S. politics.
In a joint statement, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Justice Department, FBI and Department of Homeland Security said they “do not have any evidence” that foreign actors are working to disrupt the voting process by preventing voting or changing vote counts.
“We are concerned about ongoing campaigns by Russia, China and other foreign actors, including Iran, to undermine confidence in democratic institutions and influence public sentiment and government policies,” the statement said. “These activities also may seek to influence voter perceptions and decision making in the 2018 and 2020 U.S. elections.”
There have been efforts in Congress to boost election security spending. Democrats offered an amendment that would have given $250 million to states to fortify their election systems, but Senate Republicans blocked the measure during the summer.
Trump signed an executive order in September creating a framework for imposing sanctions on foreigners who seek to influence U.S. elections.
