Trump accuses China of stealing
Photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP/TT

Trump accuses China of stealing voter data in US election claims, Beijing denies it

US President Donald Trump claims that US authorities have uncovered “shocking vulnerabilities” in the country’s electoral system - and that China has obtained data on American voters. Pure fabrication, China responds.

Trump has repeatedly - without providing evidence - claimed that systematic fraud occurred in, among other things, the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

In a speech to the nation on Friday night, Swedish time, he said that the White House has published documents that allegedly confirm a long list of vulnerabilities and flaws in the American electoral system.

Among other things, Trump accuses China of having obtained data on American voters.

Over a period of several years, beginning with the 2020 election, China has carried out what is believed to be the largest theft of election data in history. It resulted in China illegally obtaining over 220 million files of voter information, he said.

China dismisses

China's Foreign Ministry dismisses the accusations. "Pure fabrications and malicious smears," said spokesperson Lin Jian at a press conference on Friday, according to AFP.

CNN writes after a review that the material "sheds new light" on how persistently Chinese intelligence services have collected information about Americans, but emphasizes that it is different from interfering with elections.

In his speech, Trump also claims that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has discovered that about 250,000 non-US citizens were registered to vote in four states: California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania. DHS does not state what data this claim is based on.

Election authorities in Nevada and Pennsylvania deny it.

These figures are pure speculation at best, and DHS has not presented anything to substantiate them, a Nevada spokesperson told CNN.

Multiple moods

In a joint statement, 24 Democratic governors accuse President Trump of trying to undermine this fall's midterm elections by trying to "intimidate and silence voters."

“No lies or conspiracy theories can change the fact that our country's elections have proven time and time again to be safe and reliable,” they write .

Over 60 lawsuits from Trump and his allies have not led to a verdict establishing that there was election fraud that could have changed the outcome of the 2020 election, according to AFP.

Trump's claims about China also contradict a 2021 assessment by US intelligence agencies, which found that foreign actors were not successful in altering "any technical aspect" of the 2020 presidential election, Reuters reports . That assessment was conducted under the leadership of John Ratcliffe, former director of national intelligence under Trump and now director of the CIA.

In this story
AuthorTT News AgencyEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers
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