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Problems in the 2024 election include Russia and fake videos

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Disinformation campaigns, ballot processing problems and other election problems have made headlines ahead of Election Day 2024, as election officials say they are confident security precautions will be in place to ensure a safe and fair election.

Officials have been preparing for problems for months. In May, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned that the 2024 election would likely be the most targeted by malicious foreign forces in American history. Some of those concerns have now been reflected in headlines about several fake videos related to a Russian disinformation campaign, according to U.S. intelligence officials.

Meanwhile, local election officials are grappling with other problems counting ballots. Officials in Oregon and Washington say a suspected arsonist set fire to ballot drop boxes, and undated mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania remain the subject of a court battle.

Here's a look at various issues surrounding the 2024 election, including allegations of disinformation by foreign governments:

Ballot papers were damaged in suspected arson attacks

Officials in Oregon and Washington say a suspected arsonist set fire to ballot drop boxes earlier this week.

Portland police responded to a ballot box fire in the Buckman neighborhood around 3:30 a.m. Monday, and police in neighboring Vancouver responded to another ballot box arson shortly after. The Portland fire only damaged three ballots thanks to a fire suppression system in the collection box.

Nearly 500 ballots were damaged in the Vancouver fire because the fire suppression system failed. Election officials are sending new ballots to affected voters, but about six could not be identified and others may have been completely burned, they said.

In Oregon, Portland Police Agency spokesman Mike Benner said the suspect was believed to be a white male, 30 to 40 years old, with short hair or balding, a thin to medium build and a narrow face. The New York Times and ABC News, citing anonymous sources, reported that a message reading “Free Gaza” appeared on the devices used in Monday's arson attacks.

“It is entirely possible that the suspect intends to continue targeted attacks throughout the region,” Benner warned.

Fake videos of election fraud, false claims related to Russia

US intelligence officials say several fake videos depicting voter fraud are linked to a Russian disinformation campaign as Russia works to help Trump beat Vice President Kamala Harris in the election.

One video purports to show a person claiming to be a new immigrant from Haiti and a friend who voted for Harris twice in Georgia. According to a statement from US law enforcement and intelligence agencies, “Russian influence actors” were behind this video.

FAKE PAGES AND INFLUENCERS: Biden and the Justice Department have accused Russia of a $10 million disinformation campaign targeting the 2024 election

Another video, in which Harris and her husband Douglas Emhoff were accused of tipping off now-indicted music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs about a bribery raid, was also determined to be fabricated and faked by Russian actors, according to a joint statement by the Offices of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Another video showed the destruction of mail-in ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a key battleground suburb. The video was created and amplified by Russian actors, U.S. officials said.

Don't be fooled on election day: 6 false election claims to watch out for

Trump's campaign team accuses the British political party of interference

Trump's campaign filed a lawsuit against Britain's ruling Labor Party last month, accusing it of meddling in the U.S. election after the party's operations director, Sofia Patel, acknowledged in a public post on LinkedIn that dozens of party workers helped with Harris' election campaign.

RUSSIAN DISINFO: Federal authorities have shut down the Russian AI “bot farm” that spread pro-Putin disinformation

Under FEC rules, it is not illegal for foreign nationals to serve as campaign workers in U.S. elections as long as they are not compensated in any way. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said current and former Labor Party staff were running the election campaign in their own time and in a private capacity.

The Trump campaign complaint accused Labor officials of “blatant foreign interference” and questioned whether there were “illegal foreign campaign contributions and interference.”

Full Coverage: Donald Trump's election campaign accuses Britain's ruling Labor Party of “blatant foreign interference.”

Chinese national faces charges over voting in Michigan

A Chinese national studying at the University of Michigan who was not named by officials is facing charges for allegedly illegally casting an irretrievable vote.

The Detroit News reports that the vote is expected to continue to count because there is no way to remove it from the system after it is entered into a tabulator. This is a safeguard to protect voter privacy and prevents individual votes from being tied to voters.

The student registered to vote on Sunday using a school ID card and signed a document proving he was a U.S. citizen, the Michigan Secretary of State's office told the Detroit News. Officials in Michigan have not said whether the vote has any connection to foreign election interference attempts.

“Make it clear: Voting results are public – any non-citizen who attempts to vote fraudulently in Michigan puts themselves at great risk and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and federal prosecutors of Washtenaw County, Eli Savit said in a statement.

“Non-citizen voting is an extremely isolated and rare event. Research in several states and across the country has found no evidence that large numbers of non-citizens have registered to vote. It’s even rarer for a non-citizen to actually cast a vote.”

Other possible election topics in the news

'Stay tuned': Undated mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania remain at the center of legal battles

Contributors: John Bacon, Josh Meyer, Bart Jansen, Kim Hjelmgaard, Maureen Groppe and Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY

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