As the November midterm elections are approaching, the U.S. government is deploying something that has never been done before. Military cyber units will be deployed to defend elections from foreign interference.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the National Security Agency and the U.S. Cyber Command will “mobilize every resource to defend our election infrastructure from foreign malign influence and ensure that every lawful voter can cast their ballot free from foreign intimidation, coercion, or fear.”
This announcement came as a shock to many, as the Trump administration cut millions in funding from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency within the Department of Homeland Security, which is designated to safeguard local and state elections. The decision to ultimately deploy this initiative comes from the concerns surrounding election security.
Since 2016, U.S. intelligence has documented multiple attempts by foreign governments to disrupt elections. The most known attempt was during the 2016 presidential election, when Russia conducted a large-scale hacking campaign. In 2020, Iran attempted to spread misinformation, and during the 2024 presidential election, China attempted to influence the election through social media. Although these attempts have been proven, it has not been proven that U.S. vote totals and ballots were changed, most recently evaluated in the 2021 Intelligence Community Election Security Review. These attempts have led to election systems being classified as “critical infrastructure,” which falls under the same protection standards as water systems and power grids.
The deployment of the military cyber units marks a new shift in how the federal government will approach election defense. These teams will be monitoring network traffic, potential attacks, and working with local election offices to respond to any incidents. The mission claims to be strictly defensive by protecting voter registration rights. Although these units will not be located inside actual polling places, many state election officials have expressed mixed feelings about this. The National Association of Secretaries of State, representing the chief election offices in all 50 states, shared the welcoming of this new precaution but emphasized the need for clear boundaries between federal and state authority. Officials have told Associate Press News that although the federal tools are appreciated, they do not want military personnel near polling stations.
As early voting begins, these newly introduced cyber defense tactics will be seen and implemented at almost every polling station across the country. These new measures will either reassure voters or raise new concerns about federal involvement in state and local elections. The reactions of the country are hard to predict as of right now, but what can be said is that the new age of voting is not solely relying on ballots, but on the protection of our digital presence.
