Monthly Archives: July 2018

Cambodia’s ruling party claimed a landslide win in Sunday’s one-horse election, an expected outcome after the main opposition was banned, paving the way for its leader Hun Sen to prolong his 33 years in power. Hun Sen, who came to power in 1985 in a country still plagued by civil war, has cracked down on dissent in the run-up to the poll, pressuring civil society, independent media and his political opponents. CPP spokesman Sok Eysan said his party won an estimated 100 out of 125 parliamentary seats. “The CPP won 80 per cent of all the votes and we estimate we will win not less than 100 seats,” Sok Eysan said.

Comoros: Comoros votes in referendum on increasing president’s power | AFP

Voters in the Comoros went to the polls on Monday in a politically explosive referendum that could change the constitution and allow President Azali Assoumani to rule beyond 2021, his current term limit. Voters were scarce at several polling stations in the capital Moroni as the day began, AFP reporters witnessed. Burdened by a long history of turbulence, the Indian Ocean archipelago risks renewed unrest after Assoumani banned demonstrations and the opposition vowed to fiercely resist the proposed changes. Opposition lawmakers had demanded an “unconditional halt without delay to the arbitrary and illegal process” of the referendum, which they said they would boycott.

Croatia: Opposition Demands Introduction of Postal and Electronic Voting | Total Croatia

The opposition MOST party on Friday urged the government to start drafting new rules to ensure postal and electronic voting for the upcoming European Parliament elections and for the next national, presidential and local elections. The proposal was prompted by a European Union regulation recommending that the member states introduce electronic, postal and other forms of voting so that as many people would turn out for the vote and increase the legitimacy of elections.

Iraq: Iraq to try election officials over fraud: judiciary | AFP

Five election officials will be put on trial in Iraq in connection with fraud, including vote buying, during the country’s May legislative elections, a judicial official said on Saturday. The suspects were the heads of election offices in Salaheddin, Kirkuk and Anbar provinces as well as those who oversaw the voting in neighbouring Jordan and Turkey, Judge Laith Hamza said. All five have been sacked “and will appear before the courts” in connection with allegations of fraud, Hamza said. The decision to put them on trial has been taken following recommendations made by a ministerial committee, which issued a 28-page report after reviewing a series of complaints.

United Kingdom: Democracy at risk due to fake news and data misuse, MPs conclude | The Guardian

Democracy is at risk unless the government and regulators take urgent action to combat a growing crisis of data manipulation, disinformation and so-called fake news, a parliamentary committee is expected to say. In damning conclusions to a report leaked by former Vote Leave campaign strategist Dominic Cummings before its official publication on Sunday, the digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS) committee adds to the growing calls for tougher government regulation of social media companies. It accuses them of profiting from misleading material and raises concerns about Russian involvement in British politics.

Zimbabwe: Polls open in first vote since Robert Mugabe’s removal | The Guardian

Millions of people are voting in Zimbabwe’s first election since the removal of its former president Robert Mugabe, a watershed poll that will determine the former British colony’s future for decades. Long lines of voters formed outside polling stations across the country when they opened at 7am. “I am very optimistic this morning. This election is free. Things will get better now,” said Tinashe Musuwo, 20, as he cast his vote at Kuwadzana primary school on the outskirts of Harare, an opposition stronghold. The two main candidates could not be more different. Emmerson Mnangagwa, the 75-year-old president, was a longtime Mugabe aide and is head of the ruling Zanu-PF. Nelson Chamisa, who leads the country’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), is a 40-year-old lawyer and pastor whose only experience of power was a stint as a minister in a coalition government several years ago.

National: We have the first documented case of Russian hacking in the 2018 election | Vox

Russia is already trying to hack the 2018 midterm elections, going after Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats up for reelection this year. That’s the key takeaway from a piece published Thursday afternoon by the Daily Beast. Reporters Andrew Desiderio and Kevin Poulsen used a combination of court records and internet sleuthing to identify that malicious emails to a McCaskill aide were sent from a server that likely belongs to Fancy Bear, the same Russian intelligence group that did the 2016 hacks. The attack, launched in the second half of last year, seems to have failed. The evidence in the Daily Beast piece that this attack was launched by Russians is reasonably compelling. If it’s correct, then this is the first publicly identified case of Russian interference in a specific 2018 election campaign.

National: Devin Nunes calls for ban on electronic voting systems | The Washington Examiner

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes wants to ban electronic voting systems, calling them “really dangerous.” “The one thing we’ve been warning about for many, many years on the intelligence committee is about the electronic voting systems,” Nunes, R-Calif., told Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton. “Those are really dangerous in my opinion, and should not be used. In California … at least in the counties that I represent, they do not use an electronic system,” he added.

National: Russian Hackers’ New Target: a Vulnerable Democratic Senator | Daily Beast

The Russian intelligence agency behind the 2016 election cyberattacks targeted Sen. Claire McCaskill as she began her 2018 re-election campaign in earnest, a Daily Beast forensic analysis reveals. That makes the Missouri Democrat the first identified target of the Kremlin’s 2018 election interference. McCaskill, who has been highly critical of Russia over the years, is widely considered to be among the most vulnerable Senate Democrats facing re-election this year as Republicans hope to hold their slim majority in the Senate. In 2016, President Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by almost 20 points in the senator’s home state of Missouri.

National: Partisan clash over election system security looming in Senate | The Virginian Pilot

A partisan clash over Russian hacking of state elections systems appears to be coming to a head in the Senate, where a provision to add $250 million to a four-bill spending package for states to beef up election system security may be headed for a floor vote. Democrats are using an announcement from the Election Assistance Commission and President Donald Trump’s comments in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16 to pressure Republicans to allow a floor vote on Sen. Patrick J. Leahy’s amendment to provide $250 million in grant aid to states to secure election systems. “Our states are under attack,” Leahy, ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said on the floor Thursday. His amendment would provide the $250 million as part of the four-bill fiscal 2019 spending package that is expected to get a floor vote next week.

National: McCaskill introduces bill to prohibit and penalize voter disinformation | St. Louis American

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduced legislation that would prohibit and penalize the knowing spreading of misinformation, such as incorrect polling locations, times, or the necessary forms of identification in order to suppress voter turnout, on Thursday, July 26. “At a time when voting rights are being attacked and chipped away – from state legislatures to the Supreme Court – we’ve got to redouble our efforts to protect every Missourian’s right to vote,” McCaskill said. “Misinformation campaigns intended only to suppress the vote and disenfranchise Missourians are crimes that run counter to our democratic values, and the punishment for those actions should fit the crime.”

National: Democrats demand administration officials testify on election security | The Hill

House Democrats are prodding their Republican colleagues to examine foreign threats to upcoming U.S. elections, raising concerns that the Trump administration is not adequately tackling the threat. The top Democrats on four House committees demanded Thursday that their Republican counterparts hold a joint hearing on election security featuring top Trump administration officials. “Election security is a national security issue, and it is time this Congress treated it like one,” the Democrats wrote in Thursday’s letter. “We are concerned that the Trump administration is not doing enough to address vulnerabilities to our election systems.”

National: Judge allows lawsuit against citizenship question on the 2020 census to proceed | ABC

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had the authority to reintroduce the citizenship question on the 2020 census but, in exercising that authority, may have violated the rights of plaintiffs who are now suing, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman for the Southern District of New York rejected the government’s attempt to dismiss the lawsuit, which is challenging the Trump administration’s decision to add the question to the census. Furman stated that the plaintiffs “plausibly allege that Secretary Ross’ decision to reinstate the citizenship question on the 2020 census was motivated by discriminatory animus and that its application will result in a discriminatory effect.”

Alaska: Prepping for 2018 election, state looks at 2020 | Juneau Empire

The Alaska Division of Elections is in the middle of preparations for this fall’s statewide primary and general elections, but in a meeting Wednesday, the division showed it also has its eyes on 2020. In a meeting of the statewide election policy task force, division officials said they are preparing to acquire new voting equipment even as they consider whether the state should change the way it conducts elections. “It’s kind of two separate projects. It’s equipment replacement and it’s expanding options for ballot access in the future,” Josie Bahnke, the division’s director, said by phone after the meeting. Nothing will change before this year’s Aug. 21 primary or the Nov. 6 general election. Voters will still go to polling stations across the state, they’ll still pick up pens, and they’ll still fill in ovals on paper ballots, then feed those ballots into 20-year-old scanners.

Florida: A day after judge blasts state, counties act fast to hold early voting on campus | Tampa Bay Times

A day after a judge struck down Florida’s ban on early voting on college and university campuses, the Gainesville-area supervisor of elections asked the University of Florida to make its student union available for early voting in the November general election — including on a day when the Gators have a home football game. In addition, Tampa’s chief elections official, Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Craig Latimer, said he has begun talks with USF leaders about holding early voting at the Marshall Student Center on the campus. The developments come as both parties prepare to mount aggressive get-out-the-vote efforts in a year when Floridians will elect a governor, U.S. senator and other top elected officials and decide whether to restore the right to vote to most convicted felons and ban offshore drilling off the Florida coast.

Illinois: Russian Hacking Points To Need For Cybersecurity Specialists | WGLT

The Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE) faced scrutiny after Illinois became one of 39 states hacked by the Russians in the 2016 election. ISBE said only voter rolls were hacked, and no ballots were tampered with. The board’s IT Director Matt Emmons said Tuesday that’s why cybersecurity specialists are imperative. “There’s always a threat,” Emmons said. “Threat is an outside factor, an outside force. So we’re operating under the assumption that there will be a threat 100 percent of the time.” Emmons spoke Tuesday in Normal to the Central Illinois chapter of BDPA, an organization for African-Americans and other minorities in the information technology (IT) and STEM fields. He was joined by McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael and the county’s chief information officer, Craig Nelson.

Iowa: Voting Rights Advocates Score a Temporary Victory in Iowa | Cedar Rapids Gazette

An Iowa judge Wednesday issued a temporary injunction barring the state from implementing some provisions of Iowa’s new voter ID law. The ruling, for now, restores the absentee early voting period from 29 days to 40 days and blocks certain ID requirements of the law, passed by the GOP-led Legislature and signed into law by former Gov. Terry Branstad in May 2017. Polk County District Judge Karen Romano ruled that elements of the state’s new system requiring state-issued voter identification numbers on absentee ballots could harm the rights of voters to participate in elections, “in contravention” of Iowa’s Constitution.

North Carolina: Judges hear arguments over state elections board for third time | WRAL

For the third time in a little more than a year, a panel of three Superior Court judges was asked Thursday to weigh the legality of a revamped State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement. The elections board has been at the center of a power struggle between Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican legislative leaders since before Cooper took office, and each side has claimed victories in the ongoing dispute. Traditionally, the five-member elections board was controlled by the party of the governor, but after Cooper defeated Republican Gov. Pat McCrory in 2016, lawmakers merged the board with the eight-member Ethics Commission and said the new panel would be evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats.

Cambodia: ‘Clean finger’ campaign urges voters to boycott ‘sham’ election | Global Voices

Cambodia’s exiled opposition leaders have launched the ‘clean finger’ campaign which calls for a boycott of the general election scheduled on July 29, 2018. Typically, an indelible ink is placed on the finger of voters on election day which means those who fail to vote, have a clean finger. Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the main opposition party, was disbanded by the Supreme Court on November 2017 after the ruling party accused it of conspiring with foreign powers in an attempt to topple the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Congo: UN: Right Conditions Needed for Credible Elections in Congo | VoA News

The head of the U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo warned Thursday that the right conditions are not yet in place for presidential elections this December, and without progress, the credibility of the vote could be compromised. “As violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms continue to impact negatively on democratic space, some peaceful demonstrations are suppressed,” U.N. envoy Leila Zerrougui told Security Council members. “Civil society actors and political opponents continue to be arbitrarily arrested and media workers threatened.” Zerrougui said the parties have not implemented confidence-building measures, and the security situation, particularly in the eastern part of the country, remains volatile and is deteriorating in some areas.

Mali: Mali holds key polls overshadowed by jihadist violence | AFP

Mali holds crucial polls on Sunday with President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita seeking re-election in a country reeling from jihadist violence and ethnic attacks. The international community hopes the poll will strengthen a 2015 accord that Mali, a linchpin state in the troubled Sahel region, sees as its cornerstone for peace. But violence has peppered the election, with the final days of campaigning marred by an attack on a candidate’s convoy and renewed killings of civilians.

Uganda: Court validates law allowing President to seek re-election | Reuters

Uganda’s constitutional court yesterday approved removing the presidential age limit of 75 years, a ruling that would potentially allow President Yoweri Museveni to extend his three-decade rule. It endorsed parliament’s decision to scrap the cap in December that drew accusations from opposition parties that the 73-year-old Museveni wanted to be president for life and brought protesters onto the streets. “The removal of age limit may encourage an incumbent to wish to keep himself in office perpetually but the citizens still retain the power to either return the same president or elect a different one,” said Elizabeth Musoke, one of three judges who endorsed the amendment. One of the five judges said no, another had yet to deliver his verdict.

National: The next Russian attack on U.S. elections could be more serious than Facebook memes | Mashable

This is not a drill. Nor, alas, is it the fever dream of a Cold War hack novelist, as much as it sounds like one. In 2017, Russian hackers gained control of the U.S. power grid to the point where they could cause blackouts. And the U.S. government doesn’t know if they’re still able to do it. Worse yet, there’s reason to believe this is part of an attack on the 2018 election — one that could make Russia’s pivotal 2016 shenanigans (its fake news machine, DNC email hacking, voter registration hacking and Facebook meme-making) look like child’s play. We learned about a Russian attack on American infrastructure when the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security released a report in March, but we didn’t know how bad it was until a DHS briefing on Monday. Hundreds of utility companies had fallen victim to the hackers; there may be many more out there that have been hacked and don’t know it. Energetic Bear managed to get into the control rooms of power stations, even into supposedly secure “air-gapped” networks, via vendors. “They got to the point where they could have thrown switches” and blacked out portions of the U.S., one DHS analyst told the Wall Street Journal.

National: GOP Voters Grow More Skeptical of Election Cybersecurity Ahead of 2018 Midterms | The Morning Consult

Majorities of U.S. voters believe state and local officials, as well as political campaigns and committees, are not prepared to combat cyberattacks or hacking efforts targeting the 2018 midterms, according to a new Morning Consult/Politico poll — with Republican voters in particular growing more skeptical about cyber preparedness in advance of the November elections. The survey, conducted July 19-23 among a national sample of 1,996 registered voters, comes after the U.S. Justice Department announced indictments against 12 Russian intelligence officers in the hacking of the Democratic National and Democratic Congressional Campaign committees and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Fifty-one percent of survey respondents said both election officials and campaign and committee officials are not prepared to deal with cyberthreats. Thirty-six percent said state and local officials are prepared and 35 percent said the same about political campaigns and committees.

National: Congress isn’t happy with Trump’s cyber strategy. It wants a commission to help. | The Washington Post

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) says the Trump administration needs to get serious about cyberdefense. And he’s taking some cues from history with the hope of kicking the administration into action. Tucked in a massive defense policy bill Congress appears poised to pass in the coming weeks is a measure from Sasse that would create a commission of top national security officials, lawmakers and experts to draw up a comprehensive cyberdefense strategy for the country. The proposal is based on the Project Solarium Commission, a Cold War effort President Dwight D. Eisenhower launched in the 1950s to counter the Soviet threat. It’s another way Congress is trying to force President Trump’s hand in developing a clear doctrine for how the United States responds to cyberthreats from nation states like Russia, which Trump refuses to unequivocally state interfered in the 2016 election. As Trump waffles on Russia’s interference in the election, and his White House sheds top cybersecurity talent, the measure would give Congress and its hand-picked experts a more direct role in steering the national discussion.

National: Trump to hold National Security Council meeting on election security Friday | The Washington Post

President Trump will convene a meeting Friday of the National Security Council on election security, a session that could include a discussion of possible Russian interference in November’s midterm elections, according to a White House official. In addition, national security adviser John Bolton plans to hold two NSC Principals Committee meetings this week, one Thursday on Iran and one Friday on North Korea, according to the White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans. Friday’s NSC meeting comes a week and a half after Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. Trump was roundly criticized for his comments at a news conference there siding with Putin — who has denied that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election — over U.S. intelligence agencies, which have concluded based on evidence that Russia did interfere. In the days that followed, Trump waffled between saying he has full faith in the U.S. intelligence agencies and casting doubt on Russia’s election interference. He tweeted last weekend that “it is all a big hoax.”

Florida: Voting rights battle goes to federal appeals court | Associated Press

In a legal showdown over voting rights in the political battleground state of Florida, a group of federal judges asked probing questions Wednesday about how voting rights are restored for some former prisoners but not others. At issue is whether Florida’s process of restoring voting rights to felons is unconstitutional. State officials defend their system, but critics call it arbitrary and unfair. “Is voting an expression protected by the First Amendment?” Judge Darren Gayles asked during Wednesday’s oral arguments in the case. Gayles was among a three-judge panel hearing the arguments at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

Florida: ‘Thumb on the scale’: Democrats attack Florida law that lists Republicans first | Tampa Bay Times

Rick Scott won two close races for governor by a single percentage point. President Donald Trump carried Florida by 1.2 points in 2016. The two Republicans ran in different years, but they had something in common. Their names appeared first on the ballots, above those of their Democratic rivals, and Democrats argue in a lawsuit that Republicans no longer should enjoy an unfair advantage. In Florida, the listing of candidates in partisan races favors the party that controls the governor’s office. Some states such as Ohio, New Hampshire and Montana rotate names of candidates between counties or precincts.

Iowa: Judge tells state to undo some early voting restrictions for 2018 election | Des Monies Register

An Iowa judge this week blocked some provisions of a 2017 voter identification law and required the state to restore its early voting period to 40 days, from 29, for November’s midterm elections. Polk County District Court Judge Karen Romano granted the temporary injunction in an order made public Wednesday. She found that the law, and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate’s efforts to promote it, “substantially and directly interfere with Iowans’ constitutional rights to vote.” She also found the state had “suggested no real threat to the integrity of Iowa’s voting system” if the law’s requirements were blocked.

Michigan: New Emails Show Michigan Republicans Plotting to Gerrymander Maps | The New York Times