'Not-so-quietly freaking out': Election officials brace for onslaught of conspiracy theories amid vote machine overhaul

Election officials are bracing for a flood of misinformation as the federal government changes its certification guidelines for voting machines.

The Election Assistance Commission is updating its standards in response to conspiracy theories about Donald Trump's loss in 2020, but officials are "not-so-quietly freaking out" about the technical update potentially being met with suspicion or worse, reported Politico.

“We have serious concerns that false information will mischaracterize the consequences” of the changes, the National Association of State Election Directors wrote to the agency that oversees the changes. “All their public communications must be unambiguous.”

The new standards will be instituted in November, a year ahead of the 2024 presidential election, but officials fear every word will be scrutinized by skeptics, and they have tried to use caution and transparency to improve confidence.

"By using plain language and being responsive to the needs of election officials, we hope this clarification will help the public better understand this process and that they will continue to have confidence in the country’s voting systems,” said Donald Palmer, one of the four EAC commissioners.

Virtually every election system used in 2024 will be certified under the previous standards, not the new ones, but election officials say all machines will remain secure and approved for use regardless of which standards are used -- but they know some bad actors will try to sow mistrust.

“There are groups of people out there that are now declaring elections that are not held on equipment that has been certified” under the new guidelines “as invalid,” said Paul Lux, the supervisor of elections for Okaloosa County, Florida.