National: Cleta Mitchell Thinks Trump Will Use Emergency Powers to Take Control of Elections | Matt Cohen/Democracy Docket

Cleta Mitchell thinks President Donald Trump may declare a national emergency to allow him to take control of national elections. Her comments will add to growing concern that Trump is plotting a way to use his power over the military and federal law enforcement to rig next year’s vote. “The president’s authority is limited in his role with regard to elections except where there is a threat to the national sovereignty of the United States — as I think that we can establish with the porous system that we have,” said Mitchell, a prominent anti-voting lawyer who played a key role in Trump’s failed bid to overturn the 2020 election, in an appearance on a podcast hosted by the Christian conservative leader Tony Perkins. “Then, I think maybe the president is thinking that he will exercise some emergency powers to protect the federal elections going forward,” Mitchell added. Read Article

Georgia: Bipartisan support grows for using hand-marked paper ballots | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In a rare show of bipartisanship in Georgia elections, a few prominent Democratic lawmakers are supporting a Republican effort to move toward hand-marked paper ballots. U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson is the most prominent Georgia Democrat so far to embrace the Republican proposal for a test-run of filling out ballots by hand instead of by machine during this November’s elections. Although Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office quickly rejected the idea this week, state lawmakers could consider bills for hand-marked paper ballots when they return to the Capitol in January. “It’s time for Georgia elections to be conducted free from the substantial threat of undetectable electronic manipulation,” said Johnson, a Democrat from Lithonia. “Hand-marked paper ballots will eliminate that threat.” Read Article

National: Amid Record Election Official Turnover, States Prepare for the Midterms | Carl Smith/Governing

Election administrators face a number of challenges in the leadup to the 2026 midterms, including managing a changing workforce. A new study by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) and the University of California, Los Angeles finds that election office turnover continues at unprecedented rates. In 4 out of 10 local offices, the 2026 midterms will be in the hands of people who have never run a national election. The turnover rate in 2024 is the highest ever recorded, says Rachel Orey, director of BPC’s Elections Project. This is an extension of a trend that started long before President Donald Trump’s false claims of fraud in the 2020 election, and the rise in threats and harassment against election officials they set in motion. Turnover doesn’t necessarily mean risk to the integrity of 2026 outcomes, but it increases chances for glitches that could be exploited to create the appearance of fraud. Read Article

Michigan Republican budget proposal would cut funds for local election support | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

Michigan House Republicans have put more than $10 million in state election support on the chopping block in their proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. The $10 million hit is a tiny portion of a huge budget battle that may lead to a shutdown of Michigan’s government next month. But in a state that has over 1,600 election officials and dozens of local elections scheduled for November, it represents the slashing of a critical resource. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, the Department of State’s budget was about $292 million. Proposals from the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office would both boost it to about $296.5 million, while the latest budget proposed by House Republicans would cut it down to $222.5 million. Read Article

 Arizona counties defy attorney general opinion on voters caught in proof-of-citizenship error | Jen Fifield/Votebeat

Thousands of Arizona voters caught up in a state record-keeping error will lose at least some voting rights if they don’t prove their citizenship, despite a recent opinion from the state attorney general saying they should remain fully eligible to vote. In Maricopa County, affected voters who don’t provide documentary proof of citizenship in time will be allowed to vote only in federal elections, according to public records obtained by Votebeat. And neighboring Pinal County will continue to suspend the registration of any voters affected by the error if they try to change their address or otherwise update their record without providing citizenship documentation, the county recorder’s office confirmed. Read Article

Georgia: Judge rejects challenge to election law provisions related to absentee ballots | Kate Brumback/Associated Press

A judge has rejected a challenge to two provisions of a Georgia election law related to absentee ballot applications. The provisions were part of a sweeping elections overhaul passed by Republican state lawmakers in Georgia in 2021, months after President Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden. Advocacy groups and the Department of Justice under Biden sued to challenge various aspects of the law. The ruling Monday by U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee focused on the two absentee ballot provisions that were challenged by nonprofit groups devoted to increasing voter turnout. One of the provisions prohibits sending voters absentee ballot applications with the voter’s required information already filled in. The other bars the sending of an absentee ballot to anyone who has already requested one. Read Article

National: Deepfakes are rewriting the rules of geopolitics | Sinisa Markovic/Help Net Security

Deception and media manipulation have always been part of warfare, but AI has taken them to a new level. Entrust reports that deepfakes were created every five minutes in 2024, while the European Parliament estimates that 8 million will circulate across the EU this year. Technologies are capable of destabilizing a country without a single shot being fired. Humans respond faster to bad news and are more likely to spread it. On top of that, they are very bad at detecting fake information. The anti-immigrant riots in the UK show just how fast false claims on social media can spin out of control and turn into real-world violence. Fake videos of leaders making false statements, doctored audio instructions, and manipulated images can shake governments or shape public opinion. Businesses aren’t safe either. False announcements or fake board statements can affect stock prices and investor confidence. Read Article

National: Trump’s SAVE system checks citizenship of millions of voters | Jude Joffe-Block and Miles ParksNPR

Tens of millions of voters have had their citizenship status and other information checked using a revamped tool offered by the Trump administration, even as many states — led by both Democrats and Republicans — are refusing or hesitating to use it because of outstanding questions about the system. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says election officials have used the tool to check the information of more than 33 million voters — a striking portion of the American public, considering little information has been made public about the tool’s accuracy or data security. The latest update to the system, known as SAVE, took effect Aug. 15 and allows election officials to use just the last four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers — along with names and dates of birth — to check if the voters are U.S. citizens, or if they have died. Read Article