President Donald Trump used a rare primetime speech on Thursday to warn about vulnerabilities in U.S. election infrastructure. He released documents he said showed risks of hacking and foreign interference. State officials and swing voters offered mixed reactions to the claims.
Trump stated that the documents revealed the election system exposes vulnerabilities to hacking, exploitation and foreign interference at levels never thought possible. He did not present new evidence of fraudulent votes.
Gabriel Sterling of the Georgia Secretary of State's Office said noncitizen voting remains exceedingly rare in the state. He noted that audits dating back to 1996 found only a handful of cases, including one in the 2026 election so far.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin called on states to share voter rolls with a federal database and warned of fines or prison time for noncooperation. Sterling responded that a federal judge has blocked use of the database for this purpose and that major changes cannot occur with voting set to begin in roughly 80 days.
Swing voters interviewed by NPR expressed skepticism. Several said they tuned out references to the 2020 election and wished the president would focus on other issues ahead of the midterms.
