Zimbabwe: Election unrest turns deadly as army opens fire on protesters | The Guardian

Three people have been killed in Harare as soldiers and police fought running battles with hundreds of protesters, firing live ammunition, teargas and water cannon amid rising tension following Zimbabwe’s presidential election. The army was deployed in the capital on Wednesday after police proved unable to quell demonstrators who claim Monday’s historic election is being rigged. In a late-night press conference, Home Affairs Minister Obert Mpofu warned that the government “will not tolerate any of the actions that were witnessed today.” “The opposition... have perhaps interpreted our understanding to be weak, and I think they are testing our resolve and I think they are making a big mistake,” he said.

Zimbabwe: Tensions rise amid vote rigging fears | The Guardian

Tensions are rising in Zimbabwe as opposition fears intensify that the election count will be rigged, monitors warn of possible violence if the results are contested and authorities brace for protests. Millions of people voted peacefully on Monday in the first election since the army removed Robert Mugabe from power last year. Long queues of voters formed outside polling stations and turnout was recorded at 75%. The opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, said early on Tuesday that he was “winning resoundingly”, a claim repeated by senior officials over the course of the day. His supporters gathered at their party’s headquarters in the capital during the afternoon, celebrating victory despite the lack of official results.

National: Facebook Identifies an Active Political Influence Campaign Using Fake Accounts | The New York Times

Facebook said on Tuesday that it had identified a political influence campaign that was potentially built to disrupt the midterm elections, with the company detecting and removing 32 pages and fake accounts that had engaged in activity around divisive social issues. The company did not definitively link the campaign to Russia. But Facebook officials said some of the tools and techniques used by the accounts were similar to those used by the Internet Research Agency, the Kremlin-linked group that was at the center of an indictment this year alleging interference in the 2016 presidential election. Facebook said it had discovered coordinated activity around issues like a sequel to last year’s deadly “Unite the Right” white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. Activity was also detected around #AbolishICE, a left-wing campaign on social media that seeks to end the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

National: Whoever Is Trying to Hack America’s Elections Is Getting Smarter | Vanity Fair

Earlier this month, when Facebook executives were asked whether the company had detected any sign of foreign interference in the rapidly approaching 2018 midterm elections, the company hedged. “We know that Russians and other bad actors are going to continue to try to abuse our platform,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy, told reporters on a call. “We are continually looking for that type of activity, and as and when we find things, which we think is inevitable, we’ll notify law enforcement, and where we can, the public.” As it turns out, Facebook was already well on its way to identifying a new threat. On Tuesday, the company announced it had detected a campaign to influence November elections by targeting divisive social issues, similar to the effort put forth by the Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency in the run-up to the 2016 election. “We’re still in the very early stages of our investigation and don’t have all the facts—including who may be behind this,” the company wrote in a blog post. But, the post continued, “It’s clear that whoever set up these accounts went to much greater lengths to obscure their true identities than the Russian-based Internet Research Agency has in the past.”

National: The McCaskill Hack May Have Been Averted, But Cybersecurity Gaps Remain on Capitol Hill | Government Technology

That could mean the money Congress poured into improved training and a more robust information security posture for staff is working. But the legislative branch is still playing catch up to get ahead of threats. McCaskill’s staff may have been better prepared than others on Capitol Hill. She has advocated improved information security fluency and, as the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, she has pushed for a more robust information security workforce. The House mandated information security training for all employees in early 2015. All staffers who have a House network username and password must complete annual training.

National: DHS launches a new cyber hub to coordinate against threats to US infrastructure | TechCrunch

Among the many things the current administration has been criticized for is its lack of a unified strategy to combat cyber threats, especially in light of ongoing election interference and psy ops perpetrated by Russia. The Department of Homeland Security is advancing the ball with the creation of the National Risk Management Center, intended on protecting critical infrastructure from attacks and subversion by online adversaries. The NRMC was announced today at a cyber summit in New York held by the agency, where DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen explained the purpose and justification for this new entity. Remarkably, she directly contradicted the ongoing soft-pedaling by the Executive of Russian operations targeting the country. “Let me be clear: Our intelligence community had it right. It was the Russians. It was directed from the highest levels. And we cannot and will not allow it to happen again,” she said.

National: The 2020 Census Is in Trouble | The Atlantic

Nobody will write songs about the census. Among the fabled pillars underpinning the country’s democracy, the great American head count is often relegated to a dusty corner. In the nine interstitial years between each tally, analysis and development of a more perfect instrument take place mostly hidden from public view. There have been only 22 U.S. censuses—Presidents Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson never administered one—but the rarity of the event has not assigned it a special blue-moon-like significance among the public. For most people, the census is a vague, decennial annoyance, nothing more. But the census is vital to the country’s functioning. It’s not just a count of all households or a measure of American characteristics. It’s also an augur of political, economic, and cultural forces—a predictor and an allocator of power. In times of social upheaval—between political parties, whites and nonwhites, urban and rural areas, economic elites and the working class—the census can function almost like an umpire. And today, when each of these intertwined conflicts is escalating, the incentive and ambition for working the ref are greater than they’ve ever been.

National: Pence says ‘Russia meddled’ in 2016 elections, explains security plans | CNBC

Vice President Mike Pence described several new initiatives meant to prevent cyberattacks against U.S. elections systems on Tuesday. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has formed a foreign influence task force, he said, aimed at investigating sources of nation-state backed election influence. DHS has launched the elections information sharing and analysis center, which includes participation from U.S. secretaries of state with the goal of sharing threat information to "help prevent attacks before they happen." Pence said the moves would "elevate American security."

Arkansas: Attorney general approves form of proposal to change legislative redistricting | Arkansas Blog

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge yesterday approved the form of a proposed constitutional amendment to change the way congressional and legislative districts are drawn every 10 years. This is a good idea, if far removed from reality at this moment. The proposal was submitted by Skip Cook on behalf of Arkansans for Governmental Reform. He's been active in politics, particularly as a term limits advocate. He's taking up here an idea that has had growing support around the U.S. — independent districting commissions.  They are meant to cure partisan gerrymandering and, in some places, have produced cohesive, geographically sensible district lines that have cut both ways in impact on partisan interests.

Michigan: Court: Michigan voters will decide redistricting proposal | Associated Press

Michigan voters this fall will get to decide whether to change how their state's congressional and legislative districts are drawn, the state Supreme Court ruled late Tuesday. In a 4-3 decision, the justices rejected a lawsuit challenging an anti-gerrymandering ballot measure, meaning it will go to a statewide vote in November. The constitutional amendment, if approved, would entrust redistricting to an independent commission instead of the Legislature and governor. It is a bid to stop partisan gerrymandering, the process of a political party drawing electoral maps to maintain or expand its hold on power. Michigan Republicans controlled redistricting after the 2010 and 2000 censuses. They have nine of Michigan's 14 U.S. House districts and hold 27-10 and 63-46 majorities in the state Senate and state House, respectively.

Vermont: Ahead of Primary, Officials Tighten Election Security | NECN

Primary day in Vermont is Aug. 14, with a host of races on the ballot — including Democrats making their pick for their gubernatorial candidate in November, and the incumbent Republican governor facing a challenge from within his own party. Behind the scenes, election officials say they are increasingly focused on securing the vote from hackers. Even in tiny Montpelier, so far from Washington, election meddling is on the mind of some voters, after near-daily headlines of Russia's campaign to influence the 2016 elections. "Hopefully they have better things to do," voter Bill Provost said of election hackers from Russia or elsewhere.

Wisconsin: Activists push Wisconsin to audit voting machines in advance of 2018 midterms | Daily Dot

As reports of Russian interference in the 2016 election (and continued potential interference in American election matters) keep bubbling up, Wisconsin, a key swing state, has learned its voting machines appear to be vulnerable to hacking. Five elections experts told the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism that the state’s voting systems are able to be hacked, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism reports. According to the report, our increasingly “modern” voting systems are subject to a variety of issues that can affect election outcomes. While outside hacking is one possibility, human error, dust bunnies on the machines’ optical scanners, and other issues are commonplace. A number of activists are pushing for more stringent election audits in order to ensure that votes are counted accurately and reflect voters’ choices.

Australia: Cyber security experts warn Australia not immune from election meddling via Facebook | ABC

Facebook's latest move to shut down accounts involved in interference in the US democratic process has prompted concern about possible election meddling in Australia. A former cyber security expert with the US State Department today issued a stark warning to Australians: we are not immune to the threat. Black Elevation, Mindful Being and Resisters are the names of just a few Facebook pages that had thousands of followers Facebook said were possibly linked to Russia, and involved in co-ordinated, inauthentic behaviour.

Cambodia: Dissenting Voters Find Ways to Say ‘None of the Above’ | The New York Times

One Cambodian voter defaced his or her ballot with a lively reference to a dog’s anatomy. Others ticked every single box, or crossed out the entire ballot. Still others drew pictures of the sun, the symbol of the outlawed main opposition party. After Sunday’s general election, which was roundly condemned as a sham by Western governments and human rights groups, Cambodia is all but officially a one-party state. The Cambodian People’s Party of Hun Sen, the longtime prime minister, claims it captured every one of the 125 seats in Parliament. But the second-largest number of votes went to a surprising beneficiary: no one. Around 600,000 Cambodian voters, or 8.6 percent of the electorate, cast inadmissible ballots, according to the National Election Committee.

Comoros: President wins controversial vote extending his powers | AFP

Voters in Comoros overwhelmingly backed controversial constitutional reforms that would allow President Azali Assoumani to run for another term, an electoral official said Monday, following a referendum boycotted by the opposition. The Indian Ocean archipelago has a long history of instability and risks renewed unrest after Assoumani banned demonstrations and the opposition called Monday’s vote “illegal”. “I’ll give you the national results… ‘Yes,’ 172,240 votes, which is 92.74 percent. ‘No,’ 13,338 votes, which is 7.26 percent,” the president of the Comoros National Electoral Commission (CENI), Ahmed Mohamed Djaza, told a briefing in the capital Moroni. Turnout was 63.9 percent, he added.

Mali: Third candidate claims place in Mali election run-off | Reuters

Three candidates in Mali’s presidential election claimed on Tuesday to have made it into a two-candidate run-off vote, adding to confusion over a poll beset by claims of irregularities and armed attacks that prevented thousands from voting.  Candidates are forbidden by law to announce results before they are officially published and by 8 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Tuesday, there was no sign of the Ministry of Territorial Administration releasing any, which did little to calm tensions. Rival parties have given differing outlooks based on their own polling, raising the political heat in the mostly desert country, already under threat from ethnic and Islamist violence.

Zimbabwe: Rivals claim victory amid Zimbabwean election delays | The Telegraph

Zimbabwe’s government has warned candidates could be jailed for prematurely announcing election results after Nelson Chamisa’s opposition MDC Alliance claimed to have won the general election and suggested it would call supporters on to the streets if the official result favoured Emmerson Mnangagwa, the president. Mr Chamisa, a 40-year-old lawyer and preacher, said he was “winning resoundingly” as counting got under way and called on the country’s electoral commission to “perform their constitutional duty to officially announce the people’s election results”. But Zimbabwe’s electoral authorities had announced the results from just seven parliamentary constituencies by Tuesday evening, and made no comment on the outcome of the presidential race. Zimbabwean law forbids anyone other than the electoral commission from announcing results.

Zimbabwe: Tensions rise amid vote rigging fears | The Guardian

Tensions are rising in Zimbabwe as opposition fears intensify that the election count will be rigged, monitors warn of possible violence if the results are contested and authorities brace for protests. Millions of people voted peacefully on Monday in the first election since the army removed Robert Mugabe from power last year. Long queues of voters formed outside polling stations and turnout was recorded at 75%. The opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, said early on Tuesday that he was “winning resoundingly”, a claim repeated by senior officials over the course of the day. His supporters gathered at their party’s headquarters in the capital during the afternoon, celebrating victory despite the lack of official results.

Voting Blogs: Time Running Out to Secure Against 2018 Election Cyberattacks | Democracy Chronicles

In a wide-ranging set of indictments handed down on July 13, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with brazenly attacking U.S. election infrastructure during the 2016 presidential election. On that same day, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats sounded the alarm that Russia is continuing its cyberattacks on the United States, ominously stating that “the warning lights are blinking red again,” just as they were before the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Coats went on to say that the nation’s election systems and other digital infrastructure are “literally under attack.” Yet, in the face of overwhelming evidence, for more than a year-and-a-half, President Donald Trump has cast doubt on these consistent warnings. It now is incumbent on Congress, key members of the administration, state and local officials, and other stakeholders to take aggressive steps within their respective purviews to secure our election infrastructure.

National: The fight over election security comes to the Senate floor | The Washington Post

The Senate could be headed for a showdown this week over funding for state election security. Democrats are pushing for a floor vote on an amendment that would set aside an additional $250 million in grants for states to upgrade their voting systems and make other improvements. But they face firm opposition from Republicans, who say the initial round of funding Congress provided states earlier this year is sufficient. A similar amendment was rejected by the House two weeks ago in a party-line vote. Election security funding is fast emerging as a political hill Democrats are willing to die on. Although the amendment is unlikely to pass in the GOP-controlled Senate, Democrats can use it to hammer President Trump at a time when the White House is frantically trying to patch up the damage from his recent flip-flopping on the threat from Russia. Democrats are also hoping that a floor fight over the merits of grant money could make Republicans look like they’re standing in the way of resources state officials say they need to protect the vote. Whether that will help Democrats come November is unclear, but public polling has showed strong majorities of Americans want to see more action from the administration on election security.

National: A Census Question That Could Change How Power Is Divided in America | The New York Times

A citizenship question on the 2020 census has already drawn challenges from states that fear an undercount of immigrants and a loss of federal funds. But demographers say there could be even deeper consequences: The question could generate the data necessary to redefine how political power is apportioned in America. Republicans officials, red states and conservatives behind a series of recent court cases have argued that districts historically allotted based on total population unfairly favor states and big cities with more undocumented immigrants, tilting power from states like Louisiana and Montana to California and New York. Congressional seats and state legislative districts should equally represent citizens or eligible voters, they say, not everyone.

National: How the Russian government used disinformation and cyber warfare in 2016 election – an ethical hacker explains | phys.org

The Soviet Union and now Russia under Vladimir Putin have waged a political power struggle against the West for nearly a century. Spreading false and distorted information – called "dezinformatsiya" after the Russian word for "disinformation" – is an age-old strategy for coordinated and sustained influence campaigns that have interrupted the possibility of level-headed political discourse. Emerging reports that Russian hackers targeted a Democratic senator's 2018 reelection campaign suggest that what happened in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election may be set to recur. As an ethical hacker, security researcher and data analyst, I have seen firsthand how disinformation is becoming the new focus of cyberattacks. In a recent talk, I suggested that cyberwarfare is no longer just about the technical details of computer ports and protocols. Rather, disinformation and social media are rapidly becoming the best hacking tools. With social media, anyone – even Russian intelligence officers and professional trolls – can widely publish misleading content. As legendary hacker Kevin Mitnick put it, "it's easier to manipulate people rather than technology."

National: Voting-machine makers are already worried about Defcon | Engadget

Last year, Defcon's Voting Village made headlines for uncovering massive security issues in America's electronic voting machines. Unsurprisingly, voting-machine makers are working to prevent a repeat performance at this year's show. According to Voting Village organizers, they're having a tough time getting their hands on machines for white-hat hackers to test at the next Defcon event in Las Vegas (held in August). That's because voting-machine makers are scrambling to get the machines off eBay and keep them out of the hands of the "good guy" hackers. Village co-organizer Harri Hursti told attendees at the Shmoocon hacking conference this month they were having a hard time preparing for this year's show, in part because voting machine manufacturers sent threatening letters to eBay resellers. The intimidating missives told auctioneers that selling the machines is illegal -- which is false.

Verified Voting Blog: Pamela Smith: Testimony Submitted to the Little Hoover Commission

Download Testimony as a PDF

Honorable Members of the Commission: I serve as Senior Advisor to Verified Voting, a national non-partisan non-profit educational and advocacy organization committed to safeguarding elections in the digital age. Verified Voting advocates for the responsible use of emerging technologies to ensure that Americans can be confident their votes will be cast as intended and counted as cast. We promote auditable, accessible and resilient voting for all eligible citizens. I previously served as President of Verified Voting for more than a decade. I have provided information and testimony on voting technology and policy issues at federal and state levels, including to the US House of Representatives Committee on House Administration, and earlier this year at the Joint Hearing of Assembly Elections and Redistricting and Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committees, on Cybersecurity and California’s Elections.[1. March 7, 2018. https://selc.senate.ca.gov/content/oversightinformational-hearings]

I have curated an extensive information resource on election equipment and regulations nationwide, and co-authored several key works on election security policy, including Principles & Best Practices for Post Election Audits[2. Electionaudits.org/principles] and the introductory chapter of Confirming Elections: Creating Confidence and Integrity through Election Auditing.[3. Palgrave/MacMillan, 2012.] I participate in the Future of California Elections, a collaboration between election officials, civil rights organizations and election reform advocates to examine and address the unique challenges facing the State of California’s election system.[4.  Futureofcaelections.org] I also serve on the Los Angeles County Voting Systems for All People (VSAP) Technical Advisory Committee.[5. vsap.lavote.net]

In my capacity at Verified Voting I have worked with advocates, election officials and lawmakers from all across the country. In my view, the states that do the best on metrics relating to voting system security are often the ones that continue to look for and embrace opportunities to improve. As security threats do not stand still, neither can those whose work it is to safeguard our elections and consequently our democracy. I applaud the Little Hoover Commission for taking up this crucial topic of investigation, and am pleased to participate in and contribute to that effort.

Election security is not an on-off switch, where a thing either is secure or it is not. Rather it involves incrementing layers of effort, analysis, systems and procedures, all created or conducted by people, all while balancing costs and priorities. Such incremental measures harden a system, making it more secure than before and solving for problems when they occur. Perfect security is not attainable, but diligence in the pursuit of secure elections is.

Editorials: Replace Georgia’s risky touchscreen voting machines | Richard DeMillo/Atlanta Journal Constitution

s the 2016 cyber-attacks on U.S. elections continue unabated this election year, most everyone agrees that Georgia’s aging, insecure voting machines must be replaced with a new system to increase public confidence. Georgia legislators tried this spring to authorize purchase of a new system, but the flawed legislation failed. That’s a good thing. It would have made the situation worse, not better. In the wake of this failure, Secretary of State Brian Kemp formed a blue-ribbon Commission on Secure, Accessible and Fair Elections (SAFE) to study the options for Georgia’s next voting system. In short, the Secretary set up a way for Georgia to dig itself out of its election integrity hole and leapfrog to the front of the pack nationwide. At SAFE’s first meeting, Mr. Kemp sabotaged his own commission. The laudable goal of that meeting was to describe Georgia’s current system. Briefing slides are available online. Not apparent in the published material is a disturbing pattern of giving SAFE false and misleading information. If not corrected, the Commission’s recommendations will be as flawed as other efforts to fix the current system. Here are five egregious examples of such misinformation.

Massachusetts: Legislature sends automatic voter registration bill to Governor’s desk | MassLive

The Legislature on Monday sent to Gov. Charlie Baker a bill that would institute automatic voter registration in Massachusetts. Under the bill, an eligible voter who applies for a license or identification card at the Registry of Motor Vehicles or completes a transaction at MassHealth or the Health Connector would be automatically registered to vote.  "We think it is one of the strongest automatic voter registration bills in the country," said Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts. "If signed by the governor, it will make voting more accurate, secure and participatory."

Pennsylvania: Taxpayers could foot bill for mandated voting machines | Newcastle Times

Lawrence County government officials plan to buy new voting machines before the 2019 elections season. That will give the county some assurance that the system works before the next presidential election in 2020. But the price tag that comes with mandated machines with a paper trail is one that the taxpayers locally may have to eat, unless the state and federal governments come through with funding to back up their mandate. Ed Allison, county director of elections and voting, estimated that the cost for Lawrence County to meet the mandates with a new voting system could range between $750,000 to $1.5 million. Statewide, the cost is expected to be about $150 million for all 67 counties to comply, he said.

Texas: With Less Federal Supervision, Texas Drops More People From Voter Rolls | KUT

Texas election officials have been removing more people from the state’s voter rolls ever since the Supreme Court struck down a part of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, according to a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice. The group says the court’s decision to specifically strike down one provision of the law led to the rise in voter purges. The preclearance provision, also known as Section 5, required several states – including Texas – to get an OK from the federal government before enacting voting laws, changing election procedures or taking people off voter rolls. States purge their voter rolls periodically to remove people who have died or committed a felony.

Wisconsin: Election voting systems still vulnerable to hacking | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Visiting Wisconsin on June 28, President Donald Trump tweeted “Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with meddling in our Election!” It was not the first time the president cast doubt on Russian interference in the 2016 election, contradicting conclusions of the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency, as well as reports by bipartisan committees in both chambers of Congress.  But Russians have been testing the vulnerability of elections in Wisconsin and other states for years, and top U.S. intelligence officials have warned the 2018 midterm elections are a potential target of Russian cyber attacks and disinformation.  A key swing state, Wisconsin was the scene of Russian measures in 2016 that utilized social media and also probed the websites of government agencies.

Cambodia: Fake Monitors Endorse Cambodia’s Sham Election | Foreign Policy

Cambodians went to the polls last weekend, but it was a sham of an election, dominated by Hun Sen, the country’s aging autocrat. With the opposition party banned and soldiers at polling booths to ensure the outcome went only one way, no credible organization signed off on the election’s validity—but quite a few fake organizations did. Election observation in authoritarian regimes is a relatively new phenomenon. Beginning in the late 1980s, the number of elections monitored by intergovernmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and sovereign states increased substantially. This brought increased criticism of the behavior of authoritarian regimes, which signaled their compliance to the norm of external observation in exchange for certain benefits, such as legitimacy, foreign direct investment, and membership in international organizations. This gave democracy promotion actors, which coordinated a majority of election-monitoring missions, newfound leverage over the behavior of authoritarian regimes. In the last decade, however, dictators have fought back.