One signal

US election officials are leaning more heavily on state teams and local partners as federal election-security support has been cut back, Axios reports. Their preparations include cyberattacks and AI-generated impersonations, alongside physical threats and logistical disruption.

Arizona offers a specific example: its election security team plans to coordinate on Election Day with the National Guard, FBI and a CISA regional representative. The state has also run exercises covering fake impersonations of election officials, Axios reports. There is an important backstop: nearly all US elections keep paper records that can be used to check electronic tallies. The question is whether local networks can make up for the loss of a national view of threats, or whether that leaves gaps paper ballots cannot fix.

Discuss: Can state and local networks adequately replace federal election-security support, or is a national view of threats essential?

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