‘No evidence’ of lost or changed votes, says US election officials

Election officials
in the United States dismissed the possibility of corruption in the presidential election,
saying Thursday that there was “no evidence” to substantiate claims that votes
were lost or changed.

“The November
3rd election was the most secure in American history,” AFP quoted the
officials saying in a statement. “There
is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or
was in any way compromised.”

The statement
from senior federal and state officials, responsible for maintaining election security
across America, refutes President Donald Trump and his Republican Party’s
allegations that Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral victory was aided by fraud and
lost ballots.

“While we
know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about
the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence
in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too,” the
statement added.

The Election
Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council, a public-private group under
the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the US’ primary
federal election security body, issued the statement.

Heads of
the National Association of State Election Directors and the National
Association of Secretaries of State, the officials who manage the elections at
the state level, as well as the chairman of the US Election Assistance Commission signed
the statement.

The statement
came hours after Trump claimed on Twitter that election authorities “deleted”
2.7 million votes nationwide and directed his votes to Biden in key states such
as Pennsylvania.

It was the
latest in a series of unsubstantiated claims made by Trump blaming voter fraud for his loss to Biden. 

Dominion, the voting software company used in 28 states, and the Pennsylvania Department of State have rejected the claims. 

The statement comes as reports suggest Trump is likely to fire the head of CISA, Chris Krebs, who has taken a stand against baseless allegations of fraud in the election. 

Despite that, rumors and conspiracy theories of a corrupted vote that allegedly “robbed” Trump have flooded the internet, and Republicans and the Trump campaign have filed multiple lawsuits around the country claiming irregularities.

So far none have been substantiated in court.

The statement said that election officials across the country are currently “reviewing and double-checking” their state and local results prior to certifying the numbers.

“When states have close elections, many will recount ballots. All of the states with close results in the 2020 presidential race have paper records of each vote, allowing the ability to go back and count each ballot if necessary,” the officials said.