President Donald Trump delivered a primetime address regarding the 2020 election, claiming China interfered in the process. Trump stated that China obtained voter registration records, which he described as an ‘unprecedented election security nightmare.’ However, experts argue that obtaining such data is common and does not necessarily imply interference.

Trump’s Claims and Fact-Checking

Trump quoted years-old intelligence community documents, including some that had been declassified or partially redacted, without noting a distinction between what China may have planned versus what analysts say it did. The intelligence community provided Trump a classified report on January 7, 2021, about foreign interference, and two months later, under Biden, the National Intelligence Council issued the declassified version. That report said China considered — but did not deploy — influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the election.

Pamela Smith, president of Verified Voting, a nonpartisan organization with expertise on voting technology, said that there are several safeguards in place to protect U.S. elections, which includes preelection testing of equipment and chain of custody rules for ballots. Nearly every state has paper ballots that can be used to show evidence of voters’ intent, Smith said, ‘and that is the most important safeguard of all.’

Trump also urged lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require Americans to provide government-issued photo IDs to vote and documentary proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, to register. The legislation is stalled in the Senate amid criticism that it would disenfranchise many people or impose unnecessary time and monetary burdens on a constitutional right.

Original reporting: WRAL Raleigh — read the source article.