As the United States approached one of the most significant elections in its history, national security experts warned that foreign adversaries may attempt to disrupt the vote or undermine public faith in the electoral process. Senior U.S. officials have already accused Russia, China, and Iran of interfering with the election, including charges that Iranian agents posed as far-right U.S. citizen groups to send threatening e-mails to U.S. voters to vote for “we will come after you.”
As pressing as the problem appears, however, foreign election interference is not just a U.S. problem, nor is likely one that the victim State can redress on its own. International law provides a time-tested regulatory vehicle for mitigating such threats, not simply by prohibiting States from engaging in foreign election interference, but also by mandating how other States must respond to such threats.
