Election Interference: Overview

Introduction

Election interference occurs when one nation acts to disrupt or influence the electoral process of another sovereign nation. There are many examples from history of foreign nations interfering in the American electoral process, and the United States has likewise intervened in foreign elections in an effort to advantage the United States in trade or diplomatic relations.

The issue of foreign electoral interference became more controversial beginning with the 2016 US presidential election, during which Russian state agents interfered in the election to support the candidacy of Republican Donald Trump and harm that of Democrat Hillary Clinton. Although the full impact of this interference remained unclear, it appeared that the Russian government felt that a Trump victory would benefit Russia’s aggressive foreign policy aims. However, Trump and his allies mostly downplayed Russian interference and instead claimed without evidence that Democrats were working to rig elections in their own favor. Debate subsequently turned toward the means by which the United States can counter foreign election interference in future elections—as well as the extent to which distorted or misleading political speech can, or should, be limited in a democracy.

Understanding the Discussion

Bot: An autonomous computer program that can interact with computer systems or can generate communications with users.

Deepfake: An image or video created by merging audio recordings and human behavior from one source with imagery and/or sound from another source to make it appear as though a person or persons did or said things that they did not.

Disinformation: Falsehoods that are intentionally distributed to sway opinion or obscure true information.

Fake news: A work of fiction that is presented as a factual news story, often with the intent of deceiving the reader into believing it is factual and enticing them to share it.

Misinformation: Inaccurate, wrong, or potentially deceptive information.

Ransomware: A type of malicious software program that blocks access to a computer system or its functions, typically used to extract a ransom from the computer owner before access or functionality will be restored.

Social media: Websites and applications that enable users to create and share content as part of social networking activities.

Troll farm: An operation involving multiple, paid computer users working together to generate online activity to influence public opinion or to spread misinformation.

History

The first electoral interference controversy in the United States occurred during the administration of the nation’s very first president: George Washington. During Washington’s time in office, revolutionary France and Great Britain went to war, which divided Americans into political factions. Federalists like Vice President John Adams sought to remain neutral in the conflict and to strengthen diplomacy and trade with Britain. Democratic-Republicans like Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson were sympathetic to the French Revolution, which abolished the French monarchy, and wanted to strengthen relations with France. When the Federalists created the Jay Treaty with Britain, French ambassador to the United States Pierre-Auguste Adet attempted to bribe US senators to stop its ratification, but failed because of a lack of funds. Adet changed tactics, obtaining a copy of the Jay Treaty and publishing it in American newspapers. As Adet surmised, many in the public disapproved of the treaty.

Adet’s efforts coincided with the 1796 US presidential election, the first contested election, between Adams and Jefferson. Just beforehand, Adet published a series of letters warning that Adams’s election would mean war with France, to sway voters toward Jefferson. That campaign failed too, largely because Adet lacked reach. His letters were distributed widely only in a few cities, such as Philadelphia, where Jefferson won the election. However, Adams still had sufficient support to win the Electoral College vote, by a narrow margin of three electoral votes.

During the twentieth century, advances in communication and international mobility made it possible for foreign agents to undertake more complex efforts to undermine the American electoral system. Perhaps the most flagrant example of this occurred during World War II, when Britain and Germany each sought to influence American politics to promote or discourage American intervention in the war, respectively.

Nazi ideology was deeply rooted in White supremacy, eugenics, and other racist beliefs. During World War II, realizing that they had potential allies among White supremacist Americans, the Nazi Party engaged in efforts to influence the 1940 US elections, first supporting a noninterventionist Democrat, John L. Lewis, and then favoring the Republican Party. Specifically, Nazi agents and sympathizers published and distributed articles in American newspapers and magazines, spreading propaganda and misinformation about Nazi and British activities in Europe.

Meanwhile, the British government, which desperately needed US intervention to prevent occupation, engaged in efforts to manipulate the election in favor of the Democratic presidential candidate, President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Britain bugged and surveilled American governmental offices and published thousands of articles designed to promote America’s relationship with Britain and the idea of direct intervention. British agents not only tried to promote Roosevelt’s candidacy but also worked to promote Republican candidates who were sympathetic to intervention and to reduce support for isolationists, such as Republicans Thomas Dewey, Robert Taft, and Herbert Hoover. British agents even created a US public opinion organization known as Market Analysts, Inc., which regularly produced polls showing high levels of American approval for intervention.

The US government itself also steadily worked to influence politics in other countries. Between 1946 and 2000, a period extending slightly beyond the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union (the forerunner of modern Russia), the United States undertook more than eighty election interference campaigns abroad, according to Carnegie Mellon University political scholar Dov Levin. Meanwhile, by Levin’s count, Soviet or Russian authorities sought to interfere in at least three dozen international elections during that time. Some Cold War–era campaigns were covert while others were overt. The US government notoriously intervened to support some authoritarian regimes against communist opposition, whether openly or in secret. However, US efforts in the late twentieth century increasingly turned toward open support and funding for civic, pro-democracy organizations.

In the early twenty-first century, there was increasing attention to new forms of election interference enabled by internet communications and other digital technologies. A deepening atmosphere of partisan division in US politics also contributed to heightened public scrutiny of potential foreign interference. During the 2016 US presidential election cycle, Russian agents used fake social media groups and pages, some operated by individuals and others automated with bots, to promote Donald Trump or to demonize Trump’s opponents, including other Republican primary candidates and especially the eventual Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton. Investigations undertaken by Congress later found that Russia used a troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency (IRA), led by Russian intelligence operatives, which began disseminating fake news and largely pro-Trump articles and propaganda through Facebook, Twitter, and other sites as early as 2014. The IRA also stirred up issues important to specific demographics, including the political left, the political right, and Black Americans, to increase division. In a separate but connected attack, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Army (GRU) hacked the email accounts of Clinton staffers and the offices of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to obtain data useful in damaging the Clinton campaign.

In October 2019, the Senate Intelligence Committee released the second half of its report on Russian electoral interference in 2016 and concluded that there had been a concerted effort to promote Trump’s presidential campaign. Specifically, the report stated, “This campaign sought to polarize Americans on the basis of societal, ideological, and racial differences, provoked real world events, and was part of a foreign government’s covert support of Russia’s favored candidate in the US presidential election,” and went on to say that the tactics of the operation were “overtly and almost invariably supportive of then-candidate Trump.” The committee also reported that evidence indicated that the Russian troll farm was actively attempting to influence the 2020 presidential election.

On October 21, 2019, Facebook announced that it had suspended three troll farm networks operated from Iran and another with connections to Russia’s IRA, all seeking to influence US users. One such IRA-linked network had been used to operate fifty separate Instagram accounts and one Facebook account, collectively reaching 246,000 followers, 60 percent of whom were in the United States. Much of the information published was directed at congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or presidential candidate Joe Biden, both Democrats. However, Trump and his Republican allies continually denied that Russian interference was significant and instead claimed that Democrats were trying to rig the 2020 election. Trump continued to level such claims, without providing supporting evidence, after losing his reelection bid to Biden.

Election Interference Today

The National Intelligence Council submitted its report on foreign threats to the 2020 election to executive and legislative officials in January 2021. As part of their assessment, the intelligence council found that Russia's state-sanctioned influence campaign had continued in this election cycle, with efforts aimed at negatively impacting Biden's campaign, sowing further political divisiveness, and decreasing public confidence in the electoral process. It was also noted that Iran had attempted to exert influence through similar tactics, but in this case intended to harm Trump's reelection campaign. Not long after the declassified release of the report, Biden's administration authorized sanctions against more than thirty Russian individuals and entities deemed to have been involved. Sanctions were also leveled against Iran for alleged interference in late 2020 and again in late 2021.

In July 2022, the US State Department announced a reward of up to $10 million offered for information on foreign interference in US elections, including, specifically, about the IRA and other actors. New sanctions against Russia were also announced. Additionally, it was revealed that an intelligence community review had found that Russia had given more than $300 million to various political parties and others worldwide in interference attempts since 2014.

In the lead up to the 2024 US presidential election, US officials expressed concern that China would attempt to interfere with the election. For example, in September 2023, analysts for the technology company Microsoft issued a warning that they suspected Chinese operatives of using artificial intelligence (AI) to pose as American voters on social media with the intent of attacking US politicians, spreading disinformation about political issues, and fomenting political divisions among the US electorate. That November, President Biden directly asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping that China refrain from interfering in the American 2024 election. Though Xi pledged that China would not interfere, by April 2024, US intelligence reports suggested that Chinese operatives were indeed conducting influence activities.

Debate has continued over how prepared the United States is, both in the public and private sectors, to counter future efforts by foreign governments to interfere in the nation’s elections. Considerations include government deterrence efforts, concerns over safeguarding or limiting freedoms of speech and expression, and the emergence of computing technologies that may facilitate hacking and misinformation campaigns. In December 2024, the US government leveled sanctions against a subordinate organization of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as a Moscow-based affiliate organization of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), for their attempts to interfere in the 2024 US election. X (formerly Twitter) unveiled an update that revealed account users' location, in an effort to reveal fake accounts and offer more transparency. The feature exposed continued attempts by foreign actors to influence US politics and elections, as many large political accounts showed the owners of the accounts located outside of the US. While some mismatches in location were found, the feature exposed how outside entities continue to attempt to influence political leanings and discussions on politics in the country.

These essays and any opinions, information, or representations contained therein are the creation of the particular author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of EBSCO Information Services.

Bibliography

Atwood, Kylie, et al. "Russia Has Spent over $300 Million on Influencing Foreign Elections since 2014, US Officials Say." CNN, 13 Sept. 2022, www.cnn.com/2022/09/13/politics/russia-foreign-elections-influence/index.html. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.

Coldewey, Devin. “Senate Report Says Russian Election Interference ‘Invariably’ Supported Trump, Recommends National PSA.” TechCrunch, 8 Oct. 2019, techcrunch.com/2019/10/08/senate-report-says-russian-election-interference-invariably-supported-trump-recommends-national-psa. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.

Conlin, Michael F. “The American Mission of Citizen Pierre-Auguste Adet: Revolutionary Chemistry and Diplomacy in the Early Republic.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 124, no. 5, Oct. 2000, pp. 489–520. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20093399. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.

Fletcher, A. “Foreign Election Interference in the Founding Era.” Lawfare, Lawfare Institute / Brookings Institution, 25 Oct. 2018, www.lawfareblog.com/foreign-election-interference-founding-era. Accessed 6 Dec. 2019.

Foreign Threats to the 2020 US Federal Elections. National Intelligence Council, Mar. 2021, www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/ICA-declass-16MAR21.pdf. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.

Hart, Bradley W. Hitler’s American Friends: The Third Reich’s Supporters in the United States. St. Martin’s Press, 2018.

McCarty, Simone. "Blinken Tells CNN the US Has Seen Evidence of China Attempting to Influence Upcoming US Elections." CNN, 26 Apr. 2024, www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/politics/blinken-china-interview-intl-hnk/index.html. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.

Lyngaas, Sean. "Suspected Chinese Operatives Using AI Generated Images to Spread Disinformation among US Voters, Microsoft Says." CNN, 7 Sept. 2023, www.cnn.com/2023/09/07/politics/chinese-operatives-ai-images-social-media/index.html. Accessed 3 May 2024.

Lyngaas, Sean, and MJ Lee. "Exclusive: Xi Promised Biden China Wouldn't Interfere in 2024 Election." CNN, 31 Jan. 2024, www.cnn.com/2024/01/30/politics/xi-biden-china-us-2024-election/index.html. Accessed 3 May. 2024.

Sardarizadeh, Shayan; Copeland, Thomas; and Edgington, Tom. "How X's New Location Feature Exposed Big US Politics Accounts." BBC, 24 Nov. 2025, www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj38m11218xo. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.

Shane, Scott. “Russia Isn’t the Only One Meddling in Elections. We Do It, Too.” The New York Times, 17 Feb. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/sunday-review/russia-isnt-the-only-one-meddling-in-elections-we-do-it-too.html. Accessed 6 Dec. 2019.

Stubbs, Jack. “Facebook Suspends Russian Instagram Accounts Targeting US Voters.” Reuters, 21 Oct. 2019, www.reuters.com, www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-accounts-russia-idUSKBN1X01YP. Accessed 6 Dec. 2019.

Sugarman, Lev. “Full Text of the Mueller Report’s Executive Summaries.” Lawfare, Lawfare Institute / Brookings Institution, 18 Apr. 2019, www.lawfareblog.com/full-text-mueller-reports-executive-summaries. Accessed 6 Dec. 2019.

"Treasury Sanctions Entities in Iran and Russia That Attempted to Interfere in the U.S. 2024 Election." US Department of the Treasury, 31 Dec. 2024, home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2766. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.

Turak, Natasha, and Amanda Macias. "Biden Administration Slaps New Sanctions on Russia for Cyberattacks, Election Interference." CNBC, www.cnbc.com/2021/04/15/biden-administration-sanctions-russia-for-cyber-attacks-election-interference.html. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.

Usdin, Steve. “When a Foreign Government Interfered in a US Election—to Reelect FDR.” Politico Magazine, 16 Jan. 2017, www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/when-a-foreign-government-interfered-in-a-us-electionto-reelect-fdr-214634. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.

Ward, Alex. “The Mueller Report, Explained in Only 500 Words.” Vox, 19 Apr. 2019, www.vox.com/world/2019/4/19/18507580/mueller-report-trump-russia-obstruction-summary. Accessed 9 Dec. 2025.