The White House has announced that China collected voter registration data of millions of Americans, sparking concerns about potential election interference. According to an administration official, China obtained tens of millions of files from 18 states in 2020 and 220 million files by 2023.

Details of the Data Collection

The fact sheet did not specify what private information was obtained or which states were impacted. However, the official stated that the U.S. intelligence community believes China purchased, stole, or hacked the files, but it cannot confirm what percentage was taken through those methods.

The allegation that China collected 220 million U.S. voter registration files first emerged earlier this month, when former President Trump declassified a trove of intelligence records. The president has sought for years to challenge the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden, and has alleged — without evidence — that it was rigged.

Implications and Concerns

Intelligence agencies assessed in 2021 that China and other foreign countries did not try to interfere in technical aspects of the 2020 election, including voter registration processes. However, the White House argued that foreign powers could also carry out “malign activities” with voter data, such as altering data to prevent individual voters or groups of voters from voting.

Election experts have said that public voter files cannot be used to modify registration records. The National Intelligence Council assessed that no foreign actors — including China — attempted to alter voter registrations, the casting of ballots, vote counting, or any other “technical aspect” of the 2020 election process.

Original reporting: KTSA News/Talk (San Antonio) — read the source article.