Election deniers amplify Trump-driven security fears before midterms

Prominent election deniers have recently amplified concerns about US election security, echoing claims made by Donald Trump regarding voting machine vulnerabilities and ballot integrity. These efforts aim to justify greater federal control over elections and potentially depress conservative turnout.

Cleta Mitchell, a former politician involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, pointed to recent reports of a privacy vulnerability in Georgia's voting machines. She asserted that the state was not doing enough to secure ballots, telling Steve Bannon that the machines count QR codes rather than choices directly.

Ed Martin, a former US pardon attorney, repeated claims that voting machines using parts manufactured in China and other countries were compromised. He also stated that Donald Trump had met with Tina Peters, a politician convicted for her role in interfering with 2020 election results, to discuss election integrity plans.

Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, described predictions of Democrats flipping the Senate as a "psyop" intended to depress conservative turnout. He suggested that polling firms were using such predictions to influence voters covertly.

Trump has continued to promote false claims of election fraud and insecurity, directing his administration to implement new rules restricting mail-in ballot voting and to create a federal database of eligible citizens. The Supreme Court has allowed the administration to proceed with compiling this database. Mitchell also claimed, based on high-level Trump administration sources, that the Justice Department was inquiring with the Georgia secretary of state about voter data shared with non-profit groups.