National: How AI Can Help (and Hurt) Election Officials | Carl Smith/Governing

On his personal blog, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman mused that ChatGPT might already be “more powerful than any human who has ever lived.” Cause for celebration in some contexts, perhaps — but not if those hoping to disrupt electoral processes have ready access to such tools. Researchers say AI capabilities have doubled every seven months since 2019. By this metric, AI is more 675 times “better” today than it was during the run-up to the 2020 presidential election. This doesn’t necessarily mean new ways to interfere with elections, says Mike Moser, a consultant for the Election Security Exchange. The risks aren’t new, he says, but AI advancement, particularly the development of large language models, exacerbates them. Moser describes it as the “industrialization” of malicious actors. “It lowers the barriers for those that don’t have the scale or the sophistication to do their own coding,” he says, “Or it helps them do faster reconnaissance and research.” A study by Stanford researchers found that messages on policy issues generated by AI were seen as “more logical, better informed and less angry” than those authored by humans. Izzy Gainsburg, associate director of Stanford’s AI for Public Benefit Lab, sees a bigger long-term concern. Read Article

John Roberts Believes in an America That Doesn’t Exist | Jamelle Bouie/The New York Times

“Today is a triumph for freedom as huge as any victory that has ever been won on any battlefield,” President Lyndon Johnson declared as he signed the Voting Rights Act on Aug. 6, 1965. “This act flows from a clear and simple wrong,” he continued. “Millions of Americans are denied the right to vote because of their color. This law will ensure them the right to vote.” And so it did. The Voting Rights Act put the final nail in the coffin of American apartheid and opened the door to something that looked worthy of the name democracy. It brought a flowering of political participation, not just in the states of the former Confederacy but throughout the country, as disadvantaged and disenfranchised Americans took advantage of new rules and protections to fight for and win political power. Latinos, Native Americans and other ethnic and linguistic minorities all won greater access and influence under the voting right act and its subsequent amendments and reauthorizations. Read Article

Wisconsin Elections Commission sued for telling Madison not to count late-arriving absentee ballots | Alexander Shur/Votebeat

The Wisconsin Elections Commission is facing criticism from local officials and a lawsuit filed Wednesday after it ordered Madison not to count 23 absentee ballots that arrived late to the polls in the state’s recent Supreme Court race, a delay city officials say was caused by election administrator error. City officials also say the commission initially offered little guidance but later faulted them for making the wrong decision. As Madison officials discussed what to do with the late-arriving ballots the day after Election Day, Madison City Attorney Mike Haas reached out to Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe for advice. Wolfe sent the relevant statute the following day, and told Madison officials to “decide, within their statutory discretion” whether the 23 ballots should be counted. Madison decided to count them. Three weeks later, WEC’s commissioners decided Madison made the wrong choice, ordering them to remove the 23 affected ballots from the count. The commissioners didn’t mince words. Chair Ann Jacobs, a Democrat, said Madison committed an “absurd error,” and GOP commissioner Don Millis called it an “epic failure.” Read Article

Georgia: Judge denies Fulton County’s request for return of 2020 ballots seized in FBI raid | Caleb Groves/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the U.S. Department of Justice does not have to return 2020 election ballots seized by FBI agents to Fulton County. It is the latest twist in the bitter fight between Fulton County and the Trump administration over the county’s 2020 election records. Fulton could appeal the ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The ruling is a substantial blow for Fulton officials as it may have been the county’s best shot at reclaiming the election documents. Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts said he agrees that the affidavit was troubling, but adamantly opposed Boulee’s ruling. He said the county would pursue all available legal options and called the culmination of the DOJ’s efforts to probe the 2020 election a coordinated effort aimed at harassing and intimidating the county. Read Article