Threat actors likely to take advantage of election fraud claims to fuel violence, bulletin warns

Washington — Threat actors are apt to leverage claims of predetermination fraud to thrust election-related violence, according to a national bulletin obtained by CBS News. 

"Some individuals are calling for unit arsenic a consequence to predetermination fraud narratives, chiefly targeting predetermination officials and populations that threat actors comprehend arsenic threatening nan integrity of nan 2024 wide election," nan bulletin says. 

The bulletin, which was published Monday by nan Department of Homeland Security, warned that online forums utilized by home convulsive extremists incorporate threats of unit against predetermination officials and infrastructure "to forestall perceived fraud aliases to retaliate against it." Many of nan posts are promoting narratives astir predetermination fraud linked to mail-in ballots aliases physics voting machines, it said. 

"Some individuals motivated by this communicative person stated their intent online to intimidate voters aliases elections unit done surveillance of predetermination infrastructure aliases personnel, including by equipped individuals," nan bulletin continued. "Some of these online users person encouraged unit against ideological opponents related to nan usage of mail-in voting while others promoted methods of sabotaging ballot driblet boxes. Other individuals are utilizing online forums to telephone for unit against section predetermination officials successful consequence to allegations of fraud."

Federal investigators judge location are respective factors that could summation threat actors' perceptions of predetermination fraud, including "a contested aliases adjacent election, variations successful authorities predetermination laws and regulations impacting nan merchandise of results, unforeseen events that hold ballot counting, aliases technological aliases administrative errors impacting ballot counting processes."

The informing comes arsenic ballot boxes person been group connected fire successful Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, destroying hundreds of ballots. A number of mail-in ballots were besides damaged erstwhile a U.S. Postal Service mailbox was precocious group connected occurrence successful Phoenix, Arizona. The incidents are nether investigation. 

Last week, intelligence and rule enforcement agencies said Russian actors had "manufactured and amplified" a video purporting to show personification destroying mail-in ballots successful Bucks County, Pennsylvania "as portion of Moscow's broader effort to raise unfounded questions astir nan integrity of nan U.S. predetermination and stoke divisions among Americans." 

A associated intelligence bulletin issued earlier this month by nan Department of Homeland Security and FBI warned of nan imaginable for home convulsive extremists "with election-related grievances" to target governmental candidates and elected officials successful nan coming weeks. It said home extremists "pose a threat of unit to a scope of targets straight and indirectly associated pinch elections done astatine slightest nan statesmanlike inauguration" connected Jan. 20, 2025. 

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Monday that nan U.S. remains successful a "heightened" threat environment. 

"The Department continues to counsel federal, state, and section partners to stay vigilant to imaginable threats and encourages nan nationalist to study immoderate suspicious activity to section authorities," nan spokesperson said.   

In:
• Voting
• United States Department of Homeland Security
• 2024 Elections
• Mail In Voting