Did Russians Hack US Voting Machines? Nobody Knows.

US authorities say they have no evidence — but experts say there’s been no investigation. The truth is that no one knows, and claiming it didn’t happen is just as misleading as claiming it did.

This morning on Twitter, journalist Adam H. Johnson took issue with a New York Times reference to Russia “hacking” the 2016 election. Johnson called the phrase misleading, claiming it “gives readers the impression voting machines were hacked.” He then cited an Economist/YouGov poll that showed more than half of Democrats believe Russians tampered with voting machines, the implication being that this was incorrect information.

It is not, as far as anyone knows.

I disagreed with Johnson in brief exchange, reminding him that US intelligence sources say Russian hackers accessed desktop computers at Boards of Election in 39 US states. Johnson responded that this is merely an allegation (which is true — but then so is everything we “know” about Russian tampering in the 2016 election) and that Boards of Election do not impact vote totals. This latter is factually incorrect — more on that shortly.