Election Security and Election Crimes
Election season is upon us. From early voting for Super Tuesday to the final elections on November 5, 2024. As contentious as the 2020 elections were, it’s all anyone will be talking about leading up to November.
Americans have a right to expect free and fair elections, and the FBI is committed to ensuring the integrity of the 2024 general elections by working closely with our state and local election officials, Department of Justice, and our intelligence community counterparts. We continue to face very real threats from those who seek to undermine our elections through malicious cyber activity against election infrastructure; foreign influence operations; election-related crimes, like campaign finance violations, voter fraud, and voter suppression; and threats to election workers.
The FBI’s 2024 election security plan includes cross-programmatic coordination between the Criminal Investigative Division, Cyber Division, Counterintelligence Division, and Counterterrorism Division and their operations and intelligence efforts to combat the broad range of threats to
U.S. elections.
In addition, FBI El Paso has coordinated and participated in extensive scenario-based trainings and working groups with local and state officials, public representatives, and U.S. Intelligence Community partners to educate, prepare, and facilitate a whole-of-society response to all election- related matters.
While individual states have primary responsibility for conducting fair and free elections, the FBI plays an important role in protecting federal interests and preventing violations of our constitutional rights.
Federal election crimes fall into three broad categories: campaign finance crimes, voter/ballot fraud, and civil rights violations.
The FBI has jurisdiction to investigate election-related crimes when:
- the ballot includes one or more federal candidates;
- the alleged crime involves official misconduct by a polling or election official;
- the alleged activity pertains to fraudulent voter registration;
- an ineligible person votes in a federal election (e.g., all non-citizens and some convicted felons);
- interstate facilities are used to violate state elections laws in non- federal elections; or
- the activity involves federal campaign finance
The FBI does not investigate:
- voter facilitation activities (e.g., giving rides to polling places, offering time off to vote, or providing items of minimal value, like stamps, for absentee ballots);
- violations of state campaign finance laws—unless a misappropriation of campaign assets occurred through mail, wire, or other fraud covered by a federal statute;
- distributing inaccurate campaign literature or making false claims about oneself or an opponent;
- campaigning too close to the polls;
- a candidate trying to convince an opponent to withdraw from a race;
- honest mistakes by polling place workers; or
- lack of immediate election results while ballots are
Rooting out corruption in all levels of government is one of the FBI’s top criminal investigative priorities. That effort begins with the right to vote. Americans have a right to expect fair, open, and honest elections: it’s a cornerstone of our democracy. A confident public is more likely to vote, trust the outcome of the election, and know its vote made a difference.
The FBI is ready, willing, and able to investigate these crimes, but we need the public’s help. The FBI encourages citizens to report election crimes and threats targeting elections workers to the FBI El Paso field office at 915- 832-5000, online to tips.fbi.gov, or by telephone at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225- 5324).
John Morales
Special Agent in Charge, FBI El Paso
With El Paso so close to the Mexican border and Mexico in the throws of revolutionary struggle during the early 1900s, southwest Texas became a key focus of the Bureau soon after its founding in 1908. As the FBI heads into its second century, the El Paso Division remains committed to protecting the people and defending the nation while upholding the rule of law and the civil liberties of all.