Consider This from NPR - The reality of voting security in America

Episode Date: July 17, 2026

On Thursday, President Trump gave a primetime address in which he sowed doubts about the integrity of U.S. election.He tried to convince Americans that the election system was vulnerable to fraud, but offered no new evidence that details any fraudulent votes.Instead, he declassified intelligence documents that he says will demonstrate "shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure."What's in these documents - and what do they tell us about how elections are run in the US?For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at [e-mail] episode was produced by Vincent Acovino, Kadin Mills and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane. Our director is Jonas Adams. NPR's Miles Parks contributed reporting to this episode.It was edited by Kelsey Snell, Ben Swasey, Christopher Intagliata and Tinbete Ermyas.Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Hey, it's Scott Detrow. We have made it to the end of another week. And tomorrow, officially, we will have made it one whole year since Congress voted to eliminate more than a billion dollars budgeted for NPR, PBS, and our stations across the country. We continue to do what we do best, to inform and connect the public because of donations from people like you. We know that a free press doesn't just happen. We the public have to protect it. Please join the community of people who power. this work. Make a donation today at donate.npr.org. And thank you so much. It's considered this where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, unpacking President Trump's election claims. Tonight, I'm announcing the immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence, revealing shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure. In a primetime address Thursday night, Trump once again tried to sow doubts about the integrity of U.S. elections. This evidence shows that the election system we have dangerously exposes and really exposes, like levels never thought possible, to hacking, exploitation and foreign interference.

He tried to convince Americans that the election system was vulnerable to fraud. For many years, Americans were blatantly lied to about the security of our election infrastructure, including electronic voting machines and ballot counting systems, dishonest almost all. They're vulnerable and they're easily compromised, and people within our government knew that. But the president presented no new evidence of a single fraudulent vote in any election. Instead, the documents largely highlight existing concerns about voting equipment. Susan Greenhall of the left-leaning advocacy group free speech for people told NPR she has worked to shine a light on some of the same problems Trump mentioned. Two things can be true at the same time that we have ignored vulnerabilities in our voting systems for a long time.

And there is no evidence that the election was rigged in 2020 and everything that has been put forth purporting to provide that evidence always falls apart like a cheap suit. Consider this. President Trump has spread disinformation about U.S. elections for years. What do recently declassified documents actually say about election security and what can be done about it? From NPR, I'm Scott Detrow. It's consider this from NPR. To talk through President Trump's claims and the politics around his Thursday night speech, we are joined by political correspondent Ashley Lopez and White House correspondent Franco Ordonez. Hey, Franco. Hey, Franco. Hi, to both of you. Hey, there. Hey, Scott. Ashley, I'm going to start with you. The White House also released a number of newly declassified documents about some election topics. You cover elections and voting. What are people in those worlds saying about Trump speech in these documents? Well, they're saying he didn't really provide any new or old information that proves U.S. elections were interfered with. Some of the information was already released publicly. Other things have long been known by election security experts. I've heard experts point out that there is evidence of foreign influence in our elections. That is well known. However, influence is a very different thing than interference.

I talked to Pamela Smith about this. She's the president and CEO of verified voting. She said she's worried about how this all landed with voters who are hearing a lot of this stuff for the first time. So it might sound alarming. We have this document and we have that document, but there wasn't anything new in the documents. And look, voting experts have been pointing out for years that our voting systems have vulnerabilities. A lot of voting infrastructure around the country is aging. But then she made this really key point, which is,

that elections have multiple safeguards, including the fact that almost everyone votes with paper ballots, and these ballots are used to audit these systems. So, Ashley, you said that some of these claims and issues were already known. Can we just take one example and walk through that? Sure. Okay, so let's go with something that caught in my ear last night. President Trump talked about China accessing millions of Americans voter data. What should listeners know about that?

Yeah, this is a good example of something that was already known. There was U.S. Intel back in 2020 that said China had accessed voter registration data from some states. A lot of these documents from the White House were heavily redacted, so we don't really know much else about how China acquired this information. But many states have publicly available voter rolls. Anyone can ask for them. And actually, those White House documents point out that China purchased some of this voter data commercially. Let me jump in here, Scott. I mean, it's not surprising, though, that a country like China would be trying to gather so much of this information about Americans.

But as Ashley pointed out, there's no evidence that those adversaries have been able to change votes or affect. effect and outcome. All right, Franco, now as you've hopped into the conversation, let's talk a bit about the politics here. You know, Trump is not on the ballot this year, but the midterms loom. How do you view the speech from a political lens? I mean, I view it very substantially. I mean, one of the most powerful tools that a president has, a political tool is his bully pulpit. Trump's using a prime time address that's often safe for the most important and sensitive discussions, such as, you know, making the case for a country going to war. But Trump did not, for example, use this speech to further explain why the U.S. decided just a few days ago to restart the war with Iran. Instead,

as actually laid out, this was primarily about rehashing old claims. Especially given that timing. Why do you think President Trump did this? We know voters are focused on things like the economy and this Iran war. What possible political advantage could Trump get by using a high profile platform like this to talk about election security? Yeah, I mean, Trump's been sowing doubt on election system for decades. He also wants to pressure lawmakers to pass his legislation that would overhaul elections, legislation that's been stalled in Congress. But one other thing, Scott, this speech may also be about redefining the terms of the debate going into the midterms. I mean, voters are very concerned about the economy and Iran. And that's been hurting Trump politically. But election security is something that has energized Trump supporters in the past. So even though many of these claims have already been debunked, Democrats actually risk being drawn into a prolonged back and forth with Republicans on proposals that they think are popular instead of spending that time talking about the economy. Flipside, though, is there a political risk to Trump from dredging up these old election claims and also kind of talking about them in such a conspiratorial way? Yeah, for sure.

I mean, there were a lot of concerns, actually, ahead of the speech that this could hurt Republicans and make them look out of touch. I mean, many Republicans have been clamoring for a while now that Trump should focus on the economy, especially those Republicans who are running for re-election in swing districts. But Trump has not really heeded those requests, even announcing he would not sign a very popular bill to lower housing costs out of protests, actually, for the party not doing more on this issue. You know, as some lawmakers have said, Trump either doesn't realize or he doesn't care that members of his own party are running in swing districts, with a lot of moderate voters. But as we've reported before, Trump rarely adjusts his message for moderates. Yeah. Ashley, back to you. Franco mentioned that Trump's claims are undermining confidence in elections. Is this something election officials are worried about? I mean, it's what election officials are most worried about. As I mentioned, there are all these safeguards in place to protect our voting systems. Actual interference in the counting of votes is not what keeps election officials up at night. What does is voters not trusting outcomes. And because this wasn't the first time Trump has tried to so distrust in elections, officials know.

know and are preparing for the fact that this is unlikely to be the last time the president does this. That is NPR's Ashley Lopez and Franco Ordonez. Thanks to both of you. Thank you. Thank you, Scott. This episode was produced by Vincent Acovino, Caden Mills, and Karen Zamorup, with audio engineering by Ted Mebe. Our director is Jonas Adams. It was edited by Kelsey Snell, Ben Swayze, Christopher Intaliata, and Tinbeet Armius. It also included reporting from NPR's Miles Parks.

Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorney. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow.