Hackers from Iran breached Alaska’s voter registration system in 2020, exposing critical weaknesses in how states handle overseas ballots. This alarming breach demands a hard look at the safeguards protecting our democratic process.
According to Just the News, Iranian nationals accessed personal data of 113,000 potential Alaska voters, including birth dates and license numbers. The incident, confirmed by federal agencies, also saw attempts to compromise at least eleven state voter websites during the 2020 election cycle.
The breach wasn’t just a one-off; it revealed a pathway for fraud through overseas voting systems, particularly for ballots submitted under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. Election integrity groups are now pressing the Department of Justice to dig deeper and plug these gaping holes.
The Election Research Institute’s report highlights a spike in overseas ballot applications and submissions in 2020, coinciding with the Iranian hack. Hackers even produced a video showing how stolen data could be used to create fraudulent emergency ballots for overseas voters.
Alaska saw a 60 percent jump in such ballots from 2016 to 2020, while nationally, applications for overseas voting nearly doubled. This surge, during a time of global travel restrictions, raises serious questions about who was casting these votes.
The FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency initially downplayed the threat, claiming no evidence of compromised election results. Yet their own announcements later confirmed Iranian actors obtained voter data and spread disinformation to intimidate voters and undermine trust.
Cleta Mitchell of the Election Integrity Network didn’t mince words, stating, “The FBI repeatedly ignored serious threats to our election system in 2020, leaving it significantly vulnerable to manipulation by bad actors, both foreign and domestic.” Her critique cuts to the bone; why was this dismissed as mere propaganda when the vulnerabilities were so glaring?
The federal response, or lack thereof, reeks of complacency when national security is at stake. If foreign adversaries like Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps can exploit these systems, what’s stopping others from doing the same?
Mitchell’s call for Senator Grassley and new FBI leadership to investigate isn’t just warranted, it’s urgent. Letting this slide risks turning our elections into a playground for hostile powers with an axe to grind.
The indicted Iranian hackers, Seyyed Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazemi and Sajjad Kashian, didn’t just steal data; they posed as Proud Boys volunteers to spread false claims about Democratic plans to rig votes. Their audacity in targeting Republican figures and media with disinformation shows a calculated effort to sow chaos.
More troubling is how easily they exploited personal information to mimic legitimate overseas ballot requests. The system’s reliance on matching Social Security or driver’s license numbers for verification looks laughably inadequate against such tactics.
While no evidence shows fraudulent ballots were submitted, the mere existence of this loophole is a flashing red light. If a video tutorial on forging ballots isn’t a wake-up call, what is?
The 2020 election unfolded amid a pandemic, with fewer Americans abroad, yet overseas ballot numbers soared without scrutiny from the Department of Justice. This blind spot can’t be ignored when foreign interference is a proven threat.
Mitchell’s frustration with the broken overseas voting system, especially its failure to properly serve military members while leaving doors open to fraud, hits a raw nerve. Congress and the administration must act to fortify these processes before the next election cycle becomes a repeat disaster.
Our elections are the bedrock of self-governance, and no amount of bureaucratic foot-dragging justifies leaving them exposed to hostile meddling. The FBI and DOJ owe the public a thorough investigation and concrete fixes, not platitudes about how difficult fraud would be to pull off.
