AMNA NAWAZ: Officials across the country are## working overtime to ensure Election Day# is a success, and the stakes are high.

William Brangham has a closer look at# the threats causing concern -- William.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Thanks, Amna.

From rampant disinformation, foreign .. there are many bad actors trying to undermine# our elections process.

But there's also an army## of nonpartisan elections officials who# are collecting ballots and pushing back,## confident that this election,# like the last, will be secure.

For a closer look at what we need to know in# advance of Tuesday, we are joined again by## Juliette Kayyem.

She's a former assistant# secretary at the Department of Homeland## Security and faculty chair of the Homeland# Security Program at Harvard's Kennedy School.

Juliette, so good to have you back on the program.

You have been advising elections# administrators around the country## in the lead-up to Tuesday.

What is# the mood like amongst them right now?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, Former## U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant# Secretary:..

In other words, everyone has been# anticipating what we're now seeing going on,## which is both a coordinated and ad# hoc sort of attack on how we vote,## where we vote, what we understand to# be the truth in the information space.

And so this is not a surprise to them,# but let's just be honest.

The system## wasn't built for this, so they're# adapting and pivoting in real time.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Let's talk# about some of those different## threats.

One of them has been physical attacks.

We saw these ballot boxes#lit on fire in the Pacific Northwest.# We saw#a man in Arizona shoot up a DNC office,# again, not an elections office, but how## are elections officials preparing for those# kinds of physical so-called kinetic attacks?

JULIETTE KAYYEM: So that's their# biggest concern, because, of course,## it is the get-out-the-vote next# Tuesday which has to be protected.## And you have lots of volunteers, lots# of young people, lots of old people.

And their physical safety is the# most important.

In most instances,## private security is also being hired to buttress# public safety security.

Preventative measures,## everything from lighting and videos to sort# of make sure that there's eyes and ears## everywhere are occurring.

And so there's both# defense in terms of essentially locking down,## to the extent that you can, and then preparing# if there are attacks what you would do.

In my opinion, it is less likely that# any individual place is going to have## a physical attack.

There's# going to be lots of hoaxes,## lots of disinformation.

The goal is to# disrupt the get-out-the-vote.

So just## think about what 10 bomb threat scammers# could do in urban area in a swing state.

And so there's lots of practicing# about, essentially, how do you move## from one building to another out into the# street?

You just got to keep focusing on## get-out-the-vote.

And that's what a lot of the# training and practicing is doing right now.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, what a world we live in.

JULIETTE KAYYEM: I know.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, .. there's also this concurrent information# war attack against the voting system.

The former president and many of his allies# have continued for four years to say that## the last election was stolen and that this one# currently is also being cheated upon and stolen.

We also know that polls show that this# message has penetrated to Republicans,## where some polls show half, some show# a majority of Republicans believe there## will be cheating and fraud.

How on# earth do we defend against that?

JULIETTE KAYYEM: So the first# thing is just to say, factually,## there is simply no evidence of rampant sort of# institutionalized voter fraud.

You are going## to see cases here or there of which people# are arrested or there are mistakes made.

When millions of people are voting,# that is going to happen.

So it's just## worth the sort of the groundwork is,# we have as a country the most safe## and fair elections in almost any democracy# at this stage, given how bifurcated it is.

I mean, you have so many different polling# places.

So that's the first thing.

The second## is the information pushback that's going# on now against a concerted both foreign## and domestic campaign to undermine the# validity of this election, not just to## disrupt the vote on Tuesday, lies about place# and time and whether you're authorized to vote,## but also to create a narrative that,# should Donald Trump lose in the election,## he will create a narrative that he didn't lose# fairly, that the votes were stolen from him.

That narrative, a lot of -- there's a lot of# people interested in promoting that narrative,## including the Russians, including Elon Musk,## who owns Twitter and X and who has, we# know, promoting falsities about the vote.

The best thing one can do --# and there's two things.

One is,## citizens need to get smart about their# information intake, including people who## think they are sophisticated inhalers of# intelligence.

We all tend to get whipped## up at the random person who says something.# We need to sort -- we need to validate it.

The other is, you're starting to see public and# private entities push back on the lies early on.## I have never seen, for example,# the United States government give## attribution to the Russians for a lot# of lies that they're sort of pushing## in social media about fake votes and# about voting places, losing ballots.

The United States is going to name and# shame to the extent it can as well.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mentioned at the# beginning that elections officials say,## look, 2020 was the safest, most secure# election we have ever had.

And they think## that they're going to be the same or better# this year.

Do you share that confidence?

JULIETTE KAYYEM: Yes, I do.

The thing that I can't sort of qualify or# .. to break federal law -- just a reminder, this is# breaking federal law -- to disrupt the vote?

And## if they're willing to do that, then you can see# disruptions that we hadn't imagined in the past.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, that is Juliette# Kayyem of the Harvard Kennedy School.

Always great to see you.

Thank# you so much for being here.

JULIETTE KAYYEM: Thank you for having me.