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Election Officials Learn Military Mindset Ahead of 2020 Vote

Associated Press

   SPRINGFIELD, VIRGINIA - Inside a hotel ballroom near the nation's
   capital, a U.S. Army officer with battlefield experience told 120 state
   and local election officials that they may have more in common with the
   military strategists than they might think.

   These government officials are on the front lines of a different kind
   of high-stakes battlefield -- one in which they are helping to defend
   American democracy by ensuring free and fair elections.

   "Everyone in this room is part of a bigger effort, and it's only
   together are we going to get through this," the officer said.

   That officer and other past and present national security leaders had a
   critical message to convey to officials from 24 states gathered for a
   recent training held by a Harvard-affiliated democracy project: They
   are the linchpins in efforts to defend U.S. elections from an attack by
   Russia, China or other foreign threats, and developing a military
   mindset will help them protect the integrity of the vote.

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