Election security

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Election cybersecurity or election security refers to the protection of elections^[1] and voting infrastructure from cyberattack or cyber threat^[2] – including the tampering with or infiltration of voting machines and equipment, election office networks and practices, and voter registration databases.^[3]

Cyber threats or attacks to elections or voting infrastructure could be carried out by insiders within a voting jurisdiction, or by a variety of other actors ranging from nefarious nation-states, to organized cyber criminals to lone-wolf hackers. Motives may range from a desire to influence the election outcome, to discrediting democratic processes, to creating public distrust or even political upheaval.