南达科他州拉皮德城电 —— 一场全美选举官员会议间隙，来自两党的多名州政府领导人向美国广播公司透露，他们正在制定应急预案，防备联邦政府出手干预今年 11 月中期选举的组织工作。
明尼苏达州州务卿史蒂夫・西蒙隶属于明尼苏达民主 - 农民 - 劳工党。上周，他出席美国州务卿全国协会夏季会议期间接受采访时表示：“我们一向会针对极端天气、炸弹威胁、燃气泄漏、停电等突发事件制定预案。如今，我们新增一项风险情景：联邦政府有可能采取各类举措，直接或间接对选举造成负面影响。”
西蒙等州官员担忧联邦政府试图干预各州选举运作。他们举例，联邦方面持续索要选民个人信息、围绕邮寄选票发表一系列言论，意在扩大联邦层面的影响力。而白宫则表示，希望与各州协作，排查选举系统漏洞、清除不具备投票资格的选民。根据美国宪法，组织开展选举属于各州权责。
这场汇聚全美各地选举官员的会议举办期间，恰逢特朗普总统周四发表电视讲话。特朗普宣称解密一批文件，声称文件揭露美国选举系统存在安全漏洞，但各州普遍认为本地选举体系运行安全稳定。
白宫对外公布的文件大量内容被涂黑删减，并不能支撑特朗普的相关说法。自 2020 年总统大选以 700 万张选票差距落败以来，特朗普不断抛出这类缺乏依据的论调，他始终没能拿出证据，证明当年大选结果因舞弊遭到篡改。
就在这场演讲的一周前，白宫解除了跨党派机构美国选举协助委员会剩余三名委员的职务。部分州选举官员批评此举无端制造不确定性，给选举组织工作增添不稳定因素。
选举官员接受美国广播公司采访时，特朗普的这场演说尚未举行，当时这场协会会议已临近尾声。 推演各类情景，准备备选方案
西蒙向记者介绍，明尼苏达州已经着手替代部分原本依赖联邦政府提供的服务与合作项目，同时 “主动推演各类情景，研判联邦政府可能实施不同程度干预的情形。这并非预测一定会发生，只是我们提前采取防范措施。”
西弗吉尼亚州共和党籍州务卿克里斯・沃纳此前就批评特朗普政府索要选民隐私信息。美国司法部称，获取相关数据是为核查是否存在非公民参与投票。
沃纳表示：“距离大选仅剩数月，我不知道局势是否会出现变动。但举个例子，如果联邦政府宣布停用我们现有的选票打印设备，我们已经做好预案，改用纸质选票，再通过扫描仪完成计票。”
“倘若规定不允许使用电子计票仪，我们也准备好启动人工计票。归根结底，一切工作都是为维护民众对选举的信任;民众信任选举，投票参与率才会更高。不管出现何种状况，我们都有第二套、第三套备选方案应对。” 白宫方面表态
特朗普政府白宫方面称，愿意就选举议题与各州开展合作。特朗普在演讲中表示，本届政府正联合各州与地方辖区，争取在 11 月中期选举前修复 “已知技术漏洞”。
白宫发言人阿比盖尔・杰克逊回应选举官员的担忧时表示：“特朗普总统致力于让全体美国人充分信任选举运作，这就需要选民名册信息完整准确、及时更新，剔除错误信息以及非法登记的非公民选民。”
杰克逊还称，特朗普将继续呼吁国会通过《保护美国选民资格法案》，推动大规模选举制度改革。 民众舆论现状
马凯特大学法学院今年 6 月开展的民调显示，大约四成美国人对本州选举工作人员抱有较高程度信心。这一比例高于民众对最高法院、州议会、联邦行政分支、国会以及其他多个机构的信任度。
但民意存在显著党派分歧：53% 的民主党民众信任本州选举官员，而持相同看法的共和党民众仅有 29%。 “时刻为未知风险做好准备”
多名州官员表示，他们不会仅凭白宫的口头保证放松戒备。
康涅狄格州民主党州务卿斯蒂芬妮・托马斯在特朗普演讲前接受采访。她透露，和明尼苏达州类似，州政府办公室在常规选举筹备之外，也针对联邦政府可能出台的各类举措开展情景推演。
“选举官员永远要为未知情况做好预案，这是我们的本职工作。从普通突发状况到极端情形，我们都会提前设想。无论好坏，本届联邦政府确实让我们需要考虑更多潜在风险。”
她介绍，具体筹备方式是联合州级部门与地方选举工作人员集中研讨，梳理所有可能发生的突发事件。
新罕布什尔州共和党州务卿戴维・斯坎伦负责管理本州选举。新罕布什尔州总统初选历来备受关注，民众参政热情较高。斯坎伦透露，官方接到通知，联邦将在该州即将到来的初选期间，向部分投票站派驻选举观察员。
“我们对此没有异议，欢迎观察员到场，选举本身就是公开流程。但我们不能接受联邦直接干预选举运作本身。”
过往多届总统任期内，美国司法部都曾派遣选举观察员进驻各地投票站。
被问及州政府是否针对这类情景制定预案时，斯坎伦说：“筹备各类突发状况本就是选举组织工作的一部分。无论是联邦政府试图插手选举事务、极端恶劣天气，还是大规模停电等突发事件，我们全都准备好了应对方案。”
State officials preparing if the federal government tries interfering with how they run elections
RAPID CITY, South Dakota --On the sidelines of a gathering of election officials, state leaders from both parties told ABC News they are making preparations in case the federal government tries to interfere with how they run elections in November.
"Just as we always plan for things like a weather event or a bomb threat or a gas leak or a power outage -- this time, we're adding to that list of hazards: we're adding the possibility that the federal government might do something that directly or indirectly affects the election in a negative way," Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a member of the state's Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, told ABC News at the National Association of Secretaries of State summer conference last week.
State officials like Simon have raised the possibility that the federal government will try to interfere with them conducting the midterm elections, pointing to the government's pursuit of personal voter data and rhetoric on mail-in voting as examples of how it is trying to have more sway, while the White House has said it wants to partner with states to fix any vulnerabilities or remove ineligible voters. States are constitutionally responsible for the conducting of elections.
The meeting, which convened election officials from around the country, coincided by chance with President Donald Trump's speech on Thursdayin which he announcedhe had declassified a slew of documents that he claimed reveal vulnerabilities in America's elections systems, though state elections have generally been considered secure.
But the heavily redacted documents released by the White House don't appear to back up those claims, many of which Trump has been baselessly pushing since he lost the 2020 presidential election by 7 million votes. Trump has never provided evidence that the results of the election he lost were altered by fraud.
His speech also came the week after the White Houseforced outthe three remaining members of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission, which helps election officials improve the administration of elections. Some state officials criticized the move as adding unneeded instability and uncertainty to running elections.
Election officials spoke with ABC News before Trump's remarks, which came after the conference had mostly concluded.
Game-planning and 'a Plan B or a Plan C'
Simon told ABC News that Minnesota has been taking actions such as backfilling some of the services and partnerships they usually get from the federal government, and "actively gaming out" potential scenarios of how "there might be some level of interference coming from the federal government. It's not a prediction, but it is a precaution we're taking."
West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner, a Republican,has previously criticized the Trump administration's pursuit of private voter information, which the Department of Justice has said it needs that information in order to ensure noncitizens are not voting.
Warner told ABC News, "I don't know that there are going to be changes in these last couple of months going into the election. But if all of a sudden our ballot marking devices would be decertified, for example, we're prepared to go with a paper ballot that would then be read by a scanner," he said.
"If it's determined that we can't use a tabulator, for example, we're prepared to get those ballots counted by hand. All the while remembering that it's all about confidence in elections, and when we have confidence in elections, there's better participation. But I don't think there's anything that can be thrown our way that we're not ready to handle, that we don't have a plan B or a plan C to carry out."
What the White House has said
The Trump White House has said it wants to partner with states on election issues, and Trump said in his speech that the administration is working with states and local jurisdictions to fix "known technical vulnerabilities" before the midterms in November.
"President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told ABC News in response to a request for comment on concerns by elections officials.
Jackson also said Trump will continue exhorting Congress to pass theSAVE America Act, which would make significant election and voting reforms.
What the public thinks
AMarquette University Law School pollconductedin June found that around4 in 10 Americanshada great deal orquite a lot ofconfidence in the people whoadministerelections in their state, a higher percentage than the amount of Americans whohadthe same levelof confidence in the Supreme Court, their state legislatures,the executive branch of the U.S. government, Congress or several other institutions.
However, there is a partisan split:MostDemocratsare confident in their state'selection officials(53%)compared to29% ofRepublicanswho are confident.
'Constantly preparing for the unknown'
Some state officials indicated they're not relying on reassurances from the White House.
Connecticut Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas, a Democrat, told ABC News ahead of Trump's speech that her office is, similar to Minnesota, "scenario-planning" for possible actions by the administration as part of other preparations they're making for the election.
"Election officials are constantly preparing for the unknown. It's what we do, so we're always scenario planning from the most mundane to the most extreme situations. This administration, for better or worse, is just giving us more to plan for," she said.
As for what that planning looks like, she said her office works with state agencies and local election officials "and we sit around the table and brainstorm about everything that might happen."
New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan,a Republican overseeing elections in a state with closely watched presidential primaries and high civic engagement, told ABC News the state has been told election monitors will be deployed at some polling places during New Hampshire's upcoming primaries.
"That's fine. We welcome observers. It's a public process. What we don't want is federal interference in the actual election process itself," he added.
Election monitors from the Department of Justice have been deployed in the past during different presidential administrations.
Asked if his office is preparing for scenarios like that, he said, "Planning for all types of scenarios is part of administering an election. So we have plans for anything that might get thrown at us, whether it's [the] federal government trying to insert themselves or bad weather, major power failure. We're prepared."
