Opinion: Paper ballots are good, but accurately hand-counting them all is next to impossible | Barry C. Burden/The Conversation
There's a growing movement, mainly among Republicans, to return to hand-counting ballots in the United States, fueled by suspicions of the 2020 election results. However, this approach, while appealing for transparency and accountability, has significant drawbacks. Hand-counting is slower and less accurate than machine tabulation, as it's time-consuming, especially with ballots containing multiple contests, and prone to human error. Machine-counting systems, like optical scanners, are faster and more accurate, offering detailed data that demonstrates their superiority. While hand counts can play a role in post-election audits or close recount scenarios, they are not suitable for widespread adoption in modern elections due to speed and accuracy concerns. Read ArticleWisconsin enate elections committee votes against keeping elections chief Meagan Wolfe | Molly Beck/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Republicans in control of the Wisconsin state Legislature have taken a step towards removing the state's top election official, Meagan Wolfe, in a move that has sparked a legal battle. The Senate Committee on Shared Revenue, Elections, and Consumer Protection voted 3-1 against Wolfe's reappointment, a decision contested by Democrats and deemed legally dubious by the Democratic Attorney General and nonpartisan attorneys. The dispute stems from a failure to secure enough votes to reappoint Wolfe in June, with Democrats citing a recent Supreme Court ruling that allows appointed officers to remain in their positions until they are removed. Republican leaders, under pressure from the base over the 2020 election, continue to push for Wolfe's removal. The full state Senate could vote on her firing as early as Thursday, though even if passed, legal challenges are expected. Read ArticleNational: AI that alters voice and imagery in political ads will require disclosure on Google and YouTube | Michelle Chapman/Associated Press
Google has announced that political ads using artificial intelligence (AI) to alter imagery or sounds must now include a prominent disclosure indicating that the content has been synthetically altered. This rule, starting in mid-November, aims to combat the potential spread of manipulated or misleading information in political advertising. The new requirement will apply to political ads on Google platforms, including YouTube, and third-party websites within Google's ad display network. While Google is not outright banning the use of AI in political advertising, this move is expected to influence other platforms to adopt similar measures. Read ArticleNational: Special counsel election probe continues with focus on fundraising, voting equipment breaches | Zachary Cohen and Paula Reid/CNN
Special counsel Jack Smith is continuing his investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, focusing on how money raised from baseless claims of voter fraud was used to fund attempts to breach voting equipment in several states won by Joe Biden. Recent interviews with witnesses indicate that prosecutors are particularly interested in the role of former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, whose nonprofit, Defending the Republic, hired forensics firms that accessed voting equipment in swing states. This investigation raises the possibility that others could still face legal consequences, and it remains unclear how it fits into Smith's broader probe. Powell is already facing criminal charges in Georgia related to her alleged involvement in a multi-state plot to illegally access voting systems after the 2020 election. Read ArticleNational: Secretaries of state get ready for possible challenges to Trump’s ballot access | Vaughn Hillyard/NBC
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan are grappling with potential legal challenges to former President Donald Trump's eligibility to appear on the 2024 ballot. The issue revolves around the 14th Amendment, which bars individuals who have "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" from holding public office. The question of whether Trump's actions on January 6, 2021, qualify under this clause has gained attention among legal scholars, and state election officials are preparing to address any challenges while ensuring a smooth election process. Both Fontes and Scanlan emphasize that their primary goal is to run the elections efficiently while handling any legal matters that arise. Read ArticleNational: Constitutional debate over Trump’s eligibility to run more extensive than realized | Zach Montellaro/Politico
Election officials in several states, including Colorado, Arizona, Michigan, and New Hampshire, have been contemplating the application of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection clause” to potentially bar former President Donald Trump from seeking the presidency again. The legal theory argues that Trump’s actions post-oath of office could disqualify him. While some officials, like Georgia’s Brad Raffensperger, believe they lack the authority to make this determination, the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a lawsuit in Colorado to declare Trump ineligible, marking one of the first lawsuits on this matter. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who supports the lawsuit, emphasizes the unprecedented nature of this situation and the need for legal resolution regarding ballot access. Other organizations are also urging secretaries of state to disqualify Trump, with Free Speech for People and Mi Familia Vota Education Fund sending letters to officials in nine states, including Georgia and Michigan, in July. Read ArticleNational: TechScape: As the US election campaign heats up, so could the market for misinformation | Kari Paul/The Guardian
Twitter, now rebranded as X, has reversed its global ban on political advertising since 2019, raising concerns about the potential spread of misinformation ahead of the 2024 elections. This shift in policy is attributed to Elon Musk's push for profitability and his identification as a "free speech absolutist." Musk's decisions, including the lifting of bans on accounts like Donald Trump's, have sparked alarm among experts, who worry that these policy changes, coupled with workforce reductions, could hamper the platform's ability to combat misinformation. Other platforms like YouTube and Meta have also made policy reversals regarding election integrity and the reinstatement of accounts spreading misinformation, potentially creating an environment ripe for misinformation wars. Additionally, the rise of generative AI poses a new risk for manipulating public perception on a large scale. Read ArticleVoting Blogs: EagleAI – A New Antidemocracy Tool | Andrew Garber and Alice Clapman/Brennan Center for Justice
EagleAI NETwork, a new project supported by prominent election deniers, including Jason Frazier and Cleta Mitchell, is raising concerns about its potential to undermine voting rights and elections. EagleAI relies on a database of public voter data to identify potentially ineligible voters using unreliable criteria, such as matching names on voter lists with change-of-address forms or felony convictions, or even nursing home registrations, which can potentially disenfranchise voters. It allows amateur investigators to auto-prepare challenge forms, making it a clearinghouse for mass voter challenges, which, when based on unreliable data, often disrupt election administration, intimidate voters, and fuel election misinformation. The project's backers are pushing to replace responsible voter list maintenance tools like the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) with EagleAI, posing risks to accurate voter rolls and potentially enabling more election misinformation. Read ArticleArizona: Judge questions legality of method used for verifying ballot signatures | Howard Fischer/Tucson Daily Star
A judge in Yavapai County, Arizona, has stated that the practice used by counties in the state to verify signatures on early ballots may be illegal. The judge emphasized that state law is "clear and unambiguous" in requiring election officials to compare the signature on a ballot envelope with the voter’s registration record, which consists of the document signed at the time of initial registration and subsequent changes such as party affiliation. This would make it illegal to use other documents for signature verification. The judge's ruling came in response to a lawsuit challenging the practice, filed by two groups, and while a final order has not yet been issued, the judge's decision to not dismiss the case indicates that the issue will be further litigated. The lawsuit targets Secretary of State Adrian Fontes' efforts to allow comparison of signatures against additional documents, a practice currently in widespread use. Read ArticleArkansas isn’t ditching voting machines for paper ballots, despite claims online | Philip Marcelo/Associated Press
Claims circulating on social media that Arkansas is transitioning from voting machines to hand countedpaper ballots are false. Arkansas officials, including the Secretary of State's office, have stated that there has been no statewide change in how voters cast their ballots, and most counties will continue to use voting machines. While one rural county, Searcy County, has approved a plan to start using paper ballots filled in by hand, a final vote on this decision is still pending. Additionally, Cleburne County briefly considered a similar switch but later rescinded the decision. A new law in Arkansas requires counties using hand-marked paper ballots to first tally the ballots by machine for initial results, with the option to conduct a hand count for official results later. Any additional expenses incurred by counties for hand counting will not be reimbursed by the state. Read Article