A Key Piece of Voting Technology Isn’t Federally Tested. That May Change | Eric Geller/The Messenger

The staff of the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) has proposed the establishment of a testing and certification program for electronic poll books, which are tablet computers used by poll workers to verify voters’ eligibility. These e-poll books, though vital to the election process, currently lack federal security regulations. If implemented, this program would ensure that e-poll books meet privacy, security, and accessibility standards. While the proposal is being considered, any formal testing program for e-poll books won’t be in place for several years, likely missing the 2024 presidential election. This delay is due to the need for refining testing requirements, creating operational guidelines, and providing manufacturers with guidance for compliance. Read Article

Georgia Bureau of Investigation report provides new details in South Georgia county 2020 elections breach | Greg Bluestein and Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) has been conducting a year-long investigation into alleged election interference in Coffee County, separate from Fulton County prosecutors who charged Donald Trump and others with racketeering related to the same incident. The GBI’s nearly 400-page report provides additional details on the scheme, which involved copying election software, distributing sensitive data, and attempting to undermine the legitimacy of Georgia’s 2020 election results. The report highlights meetings between Trump allies, including Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, at Wood’s Tomotley Plantation in South Carolina, which was described as a “central hub for voter fraud information processing.” Additionally, the report identifies unindicted co-conspirators and sheds light on the involvement of the Atlanta-based data firm SullivanStrickler. Attorney General Chris Carr is reviewing the report, and his office has stated they will “continue to coordinate” with the GBI. Read Article

National: Schumer endorses guardrails for AI use in elections, considers candidate pledge | Carolina Nihill/FedScoop

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that guidelines for political candidates’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) are in development and might be implemented for the 2024 elections. Speaking at a summit, Schumer emphasized the need for guardrails to prevent AI from deceiving voters or disrupting electoral processes. He referred to a suggestion by Washington Post columnist Geoffrey A. Fowler, proposing an election pledge for candidates to label AI-generated communications and refrain from using AI to misrepresent competitors or confuse voters. Schumer stressed the importance of establishing AI guardrails ahead of the 2024 presidential election to ensure election integrity and combat misinformation. Read Article

Mississippi Secretary of State, other state websites go offline for several hours less than two weeks before election | Mississippi Today

The Mississippi Secretary of State’s website, along with several other state agency websites, experienced an outage for several hours due to an “unexpected issue,” just 12 days before the 2023 statewide election. Basic voting information, such as polling place locations, sample ballots, and campaign finance reports, was inaccessible during this time. The Mississippi Information Technology Services agency, responsible for managing the state’s website servers, reported that the situation was not related to cybersecurity or data integrity concerns. Last year, on Election Day in 2022, the Secretary of State’s website was down for several hours due to a cyberattack, but officials assured that the election system remained secure and uncompromised. Read Article

Georgia: Prosecutors are focused on Coffee County in Trump’s 2020 election case. Here’s why. | Sarah D. Wire/Los Angeles Times

In the final days before Congress was set to certify the 2020 presidential election results, allies of then-President Trump, including former national security advisor Michael Flynn, considered drafting an executive order to seize voting machines as a last-ditch effort to overturn the results. One of the drafts mentioned Coffee County, Georgia, where officials had refused to certify the election results, as a basis for the seizure. White House lawyers, alarmed by the idea, managed to dissuade Trump from signing the order. Later, Trump attorney Rudolph Giuliani assured Trump that they would gain voluntary access to Georgia voting systems, making the order unnecessary. Ultimately, efforts to obtain evidence of fraud from the machines proved unsuccessful, and Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021. Read Article

Pennsylvanians Are About to Decide Who Will Oversee the 2024 Elections | Daniel Nichanian/Bolts

Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie, a Democrat, played a pivotal role in implementing voter-friendly measures during the 2020 elections, including the installation of ballot drop boxes and ballot curing (allowing voters to correct minor mistakes on their mail ballots). These measures were in response to the challenges posed by the pandemic and faced opposition, including a lawsuit from Donald Trump, which Bucks County ultimately won. The upcoming elections in Bucks County will determine whether Democrats maintain control of the commission, as their majority helped establish a suburban firewall against Trump’s efforts to challenge election results. The discretion granted to county officials in Pennsylvania has led to a diverse set of election procedures, with Democrats generally advocating for expanded mail voting options and Republicans often opposing such measures. Read Article

Arizona prosecutors ask about 2020 pressure campaign by Trump allies | Yvonne Wingett Sanchez/The Wahington Post

The Arizona Attorney General’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results is now focusing on the pressure exerted on local officials by key allies of former President Donald Trump. Specifically, investigators have interviewed current and former Republican members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, who certified the 2020 presidential election results, and former House Speaker Rusty Bowers, who testified last year about Trump and Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to investigate unproven allegations of voter fraud. This shift in focus could signal an expansion of the investigation, which initially focused on 11 Arizona Republicans who falsely claimed to be the state’s legitimate electors. The investigation aims to uncover the behind-the-scenes efforts to halt vote-counting and delay the certification of election results. Read Article

Wisconsin judge rules that GOP-controlled Senate’s vote to fire top elections official had no effect | Harm Venhuizen/Associated Press

A Dane County judge ruled that the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate’s vote to remove the state’s nonpartisan top elections official, Administrator Meagan Wolfe, last month was legally ineffective, and lawmakers are barred from ousting her during an ongoing lawsuit. Wolfe will continue to serve as the head of the Wisconsin Elections Commission while a decision is pending on whether elections commissioners are legally obligated to appoint someone for the Senate to confirm. This ruling comes after Senate Republicans voted in September to remove Wolfe, a move contested by Democrats and nonpartisan attorneys who argued that the Senate lacked the authority for such a vote at that time. The judge’s decision follows a change in stance by Republican legislative leaders, who now assert that their vote to fire Wolfe was merely symbolic and held no legal weight. Read Article