US election officials reject Trump’s fraud claims

Washington : US poll officials have claimed that the recently-concluded 2020 presidential election was the “most secure in American history”, and rejected President Donald Trump’s ballot fraud allegations, the media reported on Friday. The remarks were part of a joint statement released on Thursday by the Election Infrastructure Government Co-ordinating Council, comprising senior officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the US Election Assistance Commission and also state-level officials.

“The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. Right now, across the country, election officials are reviewing and double checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result.

“While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too.

“When you have questions, turn to elections officials as trusted voices as they administer elections,” the statement added.

The statement was posted posted to the website of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa), which is part of the DHS.

Just hours before it was released, Trump tweeted that voting software used in 28 states had deleted millions of votes for him.The President did not provide any evidence and the tweet was later flagged. The development comes as President Trump has refused to concede to his Democratic rival and incumbent President-elect Joe Biden, who has been projected the winner of the November 3 election by major news networks.

Biden has been projected as the winner in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin, and also holds leads in Georgia. The former Vice President has won Arizona, extending his lead by 11 electoral college votes – he now has 290, with Trump on 217. It is the first time the state has voted Democrat since 1996.