A Democratic candidate recruiting group is pitching donors on an ambitious three-year program to find, train and support 5,000 candidates for local offices in charge of election administration, a sprawling national effort intended to fight subversion of future election results. The program would recruit candidates in 35 states for everything from county probate judges in Alabama to county clerks in Kansas and county election board members in Pennsylvania — all offices that handle elections and will be on voters’ ballots between now and 2024. Spearheading the effort is Run for Something, a Democratic group that launched soon after Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential victory to recruit candidates for local elections. Now, the group plans to raise $80 million over the next three years for this push, which would include at least a hundred staffers to support those candidates in-state, according to details and donor memos first shared with POLITICO. Amanda Litman and Ross Morales Rocketto, Run for Something’s co-founders, call the project “Clerk Work” — a way-down-the-ballot effort of the type that Democratic donors and national groups have traditionally struggled to focus on. But as Trump continues to promulgate election conspiracy theories, the role of little-known election administrators — charged with planning, implementing and certifying election results in a hyper-localized system — has suddenly emerged as a key part of safeguarding American democracy. The move is part of a broader Democratic Party shift toward increasingly prioritizing state-based races, a shift from the massive attention and financing that go toward federal campaigns. “Election subversion in 2024 is not going to be a mob storming the Capitol, it’s going to be a county clerk in Michigan or a supervisor of elections in Florida who decides to fuck the whole thing up,” Litman said. “The only way to make long-term democracy protection is by electing people who will defend democracy.”
National: Lawmakers worry 2020 will provide a blueprint for stealing a future election | Peter Nicholas/NBC
Both a federal judge and the top Republican on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot have now reached the same stark conclusion: There is evidence to suggest Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election could be a crime. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said last weekend that her panel had compiled enough facts to refer Trump to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution, while U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote last month that Trump and others undertook “a coup in search of a legal theory.” Neither has the power to bring charges against the former president. That’s up to Attorney General Merrick Garland, whose focus to date has largely been on the people who stormed the Capitol in a violent effort to keep Trump in power. Trump denies any wrongdoing, and his allies contend that Cheney has lost credibility as any sort of fair broker. Pointing to Cheney’s persistent criticism of Trump, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, told NBC News: “I couldn’t see the point in it other than that she was angry and bitter.”
Full Article: Lawmakers worry 2020 will provide a blueprint for stealing a future electionNational: What Can Happen When An Election Official Believes The Big Lie | Kaleigh Rogers/FiveThirtyEight
Nine months after the 2020 election, the call came in. The Colorado secretary of state’s office was on the phone and wanted to know why the passwords for Mesa County’s election equipment were on the internet for anyone to see. But the powers that be in Mesa County didn’t even know the passwords had leaked. “We’re saying, ‘What are you talking about?’” recalled Mesa County Commissioner Scott McInnis. Images of screens displaying the passwords had been shared a few days earlier on the chat app Telegram by a QAnon leader. The Colorado secretary of state launched an investigation and issued an order for Tina Peters, the county clerk, to let them inspect the equipment and try to get to the bottom of what happened. But there was a problem. Peters wasn’t in Mesa County. She was on her way to South Dakota for a “Cyber Symposium” hosted by Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and one of the most prominent peddlers of the Big Lie. Data from Mesa County election equipment hard drives were later displayed at the symposium. The man talking about them was that same QAnon leader — Ron Watkins — the former administrator of the message board where Q, the shadowy figure behind the QAnon conspiracy movement, posted the bulk of their posts. Watkins is so deeply entangled with QAnon that many experts believe he may have been Q himself.
Full Article: What Can Happen When An Election Official Believes The Big Lie | FiveThirtyEightNational: 3 Existential Threats to Our Elections | Amisa Ratliff and Michael Beckel/Issue One
America’s elections face three existential threats in the coming years: An exodus of election officials, the potential of election manipulation, and inadequate funding of our critical election infrastructure. Congress and the states can help reduce these threats if they act now. In the wake of a massive and coordinated disinformation effort during the 2020 elections, election officials and election workers — who do the behind-the-scenes work of running our elections and ensuring their safety and accuracy — have faced threats of violence and harassment, which has led to an exodus of good people from these positions. At the same time, we’re seeing a wave of anti-democracy, conspiracy-minded candidates running for positions as election officials, and statehouses across the country are considering or passing bills that would place election administration under greater partisan control for their own political gain. Full Article: 3 Existential Threats to Our Elections - Issue OneNational: Midterms raise fears of Russian cyberattacks | Ines Kagubare/The Hill
Russia is likely to deploy a range of cyber weapons on the United States and its election systems during this year’s midterm election cycle, as tensions continue to escalate amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Moscow has so far shown cyber restraint against the U.S. despite escalating sanctions that have damaged Russia’s economy, but experts predict the Kremlin will unleash a range of cyber weapons in an attempt to interfere in the 2022 midterms — from disinformation campaigns to efforts to hack into the election system. “I do think that the chances are higher that we see a ramp up in cyber activity by the Russians as the conflict drags on; it’s less of what I would have expected at this point, but the elections are certainly in play,” said Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute at George Mason University. Russia’s overarching goal is to pit Americans against each other and micro-target specific voters, especially those living in swing states, with information that aligns with their preconceived beliefs. “The Russians’ goal is to create internal discord in the United States,” Jaffer said. Full Article: Midterms raise fears of Russian cyberattacks | The HillArizona: How a Trump ally got his unfounded voting-machine audit push in front of federal cyber agency | Betsy Woodruff Swan, Lee Hudson and Zach Montellaro/Politico
Donald Trump’s top pick to administer Arizona elections in 2024 is more than a garden-variety backer — he played a little-known but notable role in bolstering the former president’s push to subvert the 2020 ballot. It was the waning weeks of the Trump presidency when Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem made an unusual request of the federal agency that deals with cybersecurity threats. Finchem, a longstanding Trump ally now running for Arizona secretary of state, asked the Department of Homeland Security agency to conduct “a full spectrum forensic examination” of voting machines. Finchem’s request was elevated to the acting director of DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Brandon Wales, at 7:59 a.m. on Christmas Eve 2020. And it got his attention. “We need to do a call on this today,” Wales wrote to several people eight minutes later, including the agency’s then-deputy chief external affairs officer. The emails to the DHS agency, known as CISA, are part of a tranche of new communications that show Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and his allies’ attempts to get the federal government to help them reverse election results went even broader than previously known. American Oversight, a watchdog group, obtained the emails through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and shared them with POLITICO.
Colorado: New election tool provides transparency to voting ballots | Angeline McCall/9news
A new online tool allows the public to access thousands of ballots in three different counties – El Paso and Pueblo counties piloted the program after the 2020 election to provide more transparency – Weld County launched the program shortly thereafter. The Ballot Image Audit Tool is available to anyone online after creating a username and password. In Weld County, the tool allows people all of the 64,000 ballots cast in the 2020 election. The goal of the tool is to allow people to see every ballot cast and how the ballot corresponds with the way it was recorded by the ballot machine. It also shows which ballot and choices were adjudicated, meaning which ones were looked at by the human eye because the machine could not clearly decipher them. "It’s all out there for the public to go and see, so that they can make sure and gain confidence in the elections," said Republican Weld County Clerk Carly Kappes, who continues to receive questions over the legitimacy of the election results. Kappes said she has been able to point people to the tool to verify the results themselves, which she hopes will help them to verify their concerns. "It has been something that I have had people go and look at," said Weld. "I can stand here all day. I can have those conversations with people that have the questions, but really at the end of the day, I want to provide them the tools for them to verify what I am saying."
Full Article: Public can look at election ballots with new online tool | 9news.com
District of Columbia won’t move forward with a mobile voting measure | Aaron Schaffer/The Washington Post
Mobile voting won’t be a thing in D.C. anytime soon. A crucial member of the D.C. Council says he won’t move forward with a bill to expand voting by phone in the District, dealing a blow to an effort to expand mobile voting across the country. The course reversal is a victory for election security advocates who have long argued that the technology isn’t ready for a widespread rollout, even as proponents argue it would be an effective way to boost voter turnout and accessibility. The D.C. bill had support from eight members of the 13-person Council and groups like the D.C. branch of the NAACP. But council member Charles Allen’s (D-Ward 6) opinion of the bill was especially important for its future because he chairs a committee that the bill would have to advance through.
Georgia: Voting rights trial opens with disputes over election hurdles | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A major voting rights trial launched Monday with allegations that Georgia has erected “a series of roadblocks” to casting a ballot, and a response that the case attempts “a wholesale attack” on the state’s election system. Opening statements by each side marked a stark contrast in the federal trial, where a judge will hear testimony over the next month to determine if Georgia’s elections procedures illegally burden eligible voters. It’s the first voting rights case to make it to trial in Atlanta’s federal courts in at least a decade, the culmination of a lawsuit filed by allies of Democrat Stacey Abrams after her close loss to Republican Brian Kemp in the 2018 race for governor. As the trial begins 3 1/2 years later, Abrams and Kemp are again running for governor, but a decision in the case isn’t expected until after Georgia’s May 24 primary.
Michigan State Court of Appeals judges hear Antrim County election case arguments |Mardi Link/Traverse City Record-Eagle
A three-judge state Court of Appeals panel will decide whether to reverse a 13th Circuit Court judge’s decision last May to dismiss an Antrim County election-related lawsuit filed by a Central Lake Township man. On Tuesday, the appeals judges heard oral arguments in the case that focused on whether an Amendment to Michigan’s Constitution grants an individual right to voters to audit statewide elections, or whether the power to audit is wielded only by the Secretary of State. William Bailey filed suit Nov. 23, 2020, accusing the county of voter fraud and of violating his constitutional rights, after initial results of the 2020 Presidential election showed about 2,000 votes cast for then-President Donald Trump had mistakenly been assigned to then-challenger Joe Biden. Antrim County Clerk Sheryl Guy acknowledged her office’s human error, an assertion backed by election experts, academics and the state’s Senate Oversight Committee, members of whom in 2021 studied — and rejected — claims of widespread election fraud in Antrim County and in Michigan. Bailey accused the county of using Dominion Voting Systems equipment pre-programmed for fraud, a subsequent court-ordered forensic exam by Dallas-based-Allied Security Operations Group was debunked by experts and Judge Kevin Elsenheimer dismissed the lawsuit May 18, 2021. Full Article: State Court of Appeals judges hear Antrim election case arguments | Local News | record-eagle.comMinnesota: Election security money going to counties ahead of 2022 vote | Stephen Montemayor/StarTribune
The Minnesota Secretary of State's Office is starting to distribute nearly $3 million in election cybersecurity money as counties prepare for another busy election season. This latest round of federal Help America Vote Act security dollars is another chapter in efforts to bolster cyber defenses statewide since Russian hackers tried to breach Minnesota's voting system in 2016. "We want to make sure counties are thinking about their overall cyber security – and specifically election security posture – not just in an election year but all the time," said Bill Ekblad, the office's election security cyber navigator.
Full Article: Election security money going to Minnesota counties ahead of 2022 vote - StarTribune.comNevada counties to hear election proposals spurred by false election fraud claims | Michael Lyle/Nevada Current
At least four more Nevada counties are considering changes to the voting process with three proposing to switch to hand-counting paper ballots, a move borne from unsubstantiated claims about widespread election fraud. Lyon, Lincoln, Elko and Esmeralda county commissions have all scheduled to hear proposals at upcoming meetings next week. “Enough is enough,” said Holly Welborn, the policy director for the ACLU of Nevada, which threatened to sue Washoe County for its recent proposed voting resolutions. “This is a targeted attempt to undermine and threaten our election officials, to undermine democracy in the state of Nevada and the rest of the country, and to get the electorate to not trust election officials who are hard-working people who are following the law,” she said. The office of Republican Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske reviewed the 2020 General Election after alleged “election integrity issues” and found no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Full Article: Four Nevada counties to hear election proposals spurred by false election fraud claims - Nevada CurrentNevada: Transition to state-led, top-down voter database delayed, expected later than 2024 | Sean Golonka/The Nevada Independent
State election officials plan to submit a bill asking lawmakers for two more years to implement a new state-led voter registration system, as transitioning away from the current county-led system by a January 2024 deadline appears unlikely. Earlier this month, Deputy Secretary of State for Elections Mark Wlaschin told legislators on an interim elections committee that his office is still aiming to meet the 2024 deadline established by AB422, but he expects the project to be finished closer to 2026. Wlaschin said their goal was “to not do it quickly, but to do it properly,” pointing to recent technical issues that state election officials faced in Washington and West Virginia when moving to new statewide voter registration databases. A 2017 report from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission identified Nevada as one of just six states with a bottom-up voter registration system, in which individual counties maintain their own voter lists and transmit that data to the state on a daily basis. But a top-down, centralized system, in which the state manages a voter registration database and transmits that data to local jurisdictions, is generally meant to improve the efficiency and uniformity of voter roll maintenance. Local election officials also expect the system to help with same-day voter registration. Full Article: Transition to state-led, top-down voter database delayed, expected later than 2024 - The Nevada IndependentOhio: ‘It’s been extremely stressful:’ Summit County scrambling amid redistricting chaos | Abbey Marshall/Akron Beacon Journal
With less than three weeks until the May 3 primary, the Summit County Board of Elections is scrambling to keep up with near-constant changes in redistricting after a fourth set of maps was rejected Thursday afternoon. The court has already rejected four sets of Republican-drawn maps, which would give long-awaited clarity to what candidates are running in which district and whom they’re serving. Early voting in Summit County is already underway with Ohioans casting ballots in other elections including U.S. Senate, congressional, gubernatorial and local races. But as the redistricting confusion continues, candidates for state House and Senate are missing from the ballot. Local election officials can offer no clarity to voters and candidates before the murky redistricting process is resolved. The uncertainty places a major burden on Summit and other county boards of elections, which will likely have to run a second primary later this summer at a cost that surpasses half a million dollars. But the effects go beyond just cost, as election officials feel the pressure of overtime hours, uncertainty and potential staffing problems.
Full Article: Summit County scrambling to keep up with redistricting confusionWisconsin: Michael Gableman, leader of the GOP’s review of the 2020 vote, disparages state’s election director for how she dresses | Patrick Marley/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
When Republican attorney Michael Gableman took to the airwaves Tuesday, he didn’t just attack the governor, the attorney general, two judges and five members of the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission. He also took a shot at how the woman leading the commission dresses. "Black dress, white pearls — I’ve seen the act, I’ve seen the show," Gableman said on WTAQ-AM of Meagan Wolfe, director of the Elections Commission. When host Joe Giganti said he recently saw Wolfe wearing a gold locket rather than pearls, Gableman responded, "Oh, Hillary Clinton." The off-script comment came as Gableman, a former state Supreme Court justice, made the case that the Elections Commission should be dissolved and voting rules overhauled. Gableman is conducting his review of the 2020 election using $676,000 in taxpayer funds provided by Republicans who control the Assembly. "I'm a professional who takes my job seriously," Wolfe said in a written statement. "Comments directed at my appearance are a far cry from being serious, and are beneath anybody who purports to be undertaking a review of subject matter as important as election integrity."
Full Article: Michael Gableman disparages elections director for how she dressesWyoming: Election distrust persists, solutions mired in politics | Maggie Mullen/WyoFile
Park County Republicans want to fix a voting system election officials say isn’t broken. In an attempt to secure elections, and restore confidence in the process, they have proposed adding a layer of scrutiny by hand-counting paper ballots. Election officials question the legality of the measure and continue to assert that the 2020 election was fair, secure and accurately tallied. But they also agree it’s time to boost voter confidence — the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center found that voter confidence declined in the state after the 2020 election. The Park County conversation reflects a larger statewide discussion about election law. The Wyoming Legislature added a voter ID law in 2021, and more recently, created a felony penalty for disclosing certain voting results before the polls close. But those measures haven’t assuaged all concerns, which is where the proposal to hand-count paper ballots comes in. Wyoming already uses paper ballots, but in combination with electronic counting machines. It’s those machines that are problematic for some. Full Article: Election distrust persists, solutions mired in politics - WyoFile‘We control them all’: Donald Trump Jr. texted Meadows detailed plan for overturning 2020 election before it was called | Ryan Nobles, Zachary Cohen and Annie Grayer/CNN
Two days after the 2020 presidential election, as votes were still being tallied, Donald Trump's eldest son texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that "we have operational control" to ensure his father would get a second term, with Republican majorities in the US Senate and swing state legislatures, CNN has learned. In the text, which has not been previously reported, Donald Trump Jr. lays out ideas for keeping his father in power by subverting the Electoral College process, according to the message reviewed by CNN. The text is among records obtained by the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021. "It's very simple," Trump Jr. texted to Meadows on November 5, adding later in the same missive: "We have multiple paths We control them all." ... Immediately before his text to Meadows describing multiple paths for challenging the election, Trump Jr. texted Meadows the following: "This is what we need to do please read it and please get it to everyone that needs to see it because I'm not sure we're doing it."
National: ‘Smoking rifle’: Trump Jr texted Meadows strategies to overturn election – report | Martin Pengelly/The Guardian
Two days after the 2020 election, Donald Trump Jr texted the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, with strategies for overturning the result, CNN reported. “This is what we need to do please read it and please get it to everyone that needs to see it because I’m not sure we’re doing it,” Trump Jr reportedly wrote, adding: “It’s very simple … We have multiple paths[.] We control them all.” One leading legal authority called the text “a smoking rifle”. CNN said the text was sent on 5 November 2020, two days before Joe Biden was declared the winner of the election and the next president. Two months after 5 November, on 6 January 2021, supporters Trump told to “fight like hell” in his cause attacked the US Capitol. A bipartisan Senate report connected seven deaths to the riot. According to CNN, in his texts to Meadows, Trump Jr laid out strategies the Trump team went on to pursue as they disseminated lies about election fraud and pressured state and federal officials. Such tactics included lawsuits in swing states, the overwhelming majority of which were rejected, and “having a handful of Republican state houses put forward slates of fake ‘Trump electors’”.Full Article: ‘Smoking rifle’: Trump Jr texted Meadows strategies to overturn election – report | Donald Trump Jr | The Guardian
National: Jan. 6 Panel Has Evidence for Criminal Referral of Trump, but Splits on Sending | Michael S. Schmidt and Luke Broadwater/The New York Times
The leaders of the House committee investigating the Capitol attack have grown divided over whether to make a criminal referral to the Justice Department of former President Donald J. Trump, even though they have concluded that they have enough evidence to do so, people involved in the discussions said. The debate centers on whether making a referral — a largely symbolic act — would backfire by politically tainting the Justice Department’s expanding investigation into the Jan. 6 assault and what led up to it. Since last summer, a team of former federal prosecutors working for the committee has focused on documenting the attack and the preceding efforts by Mr. Trump and his allies to reverse his defeat in the 2020 election. The panel plans to issue a detailed report on its findings, but in recent months it has regularly signaled that it was also weighing a criminal referral that would pressure Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to open a criminal investigation into Mr. Trump. Despite concluding that they have enough evidence to refer Mr. Trump for obstructing a congressional proceeding and conspiring to defraud the American people, some on the committee are questioning whether there is any need to make a referral. The Justice Department appears to be ramping up a wide-ranging investigation, and making a referral could saddle a criminal case with further partisan baggage at a time when Mr. Trump is openly flirting with running again in 2024. The committee’s vice chairwoman, Representative Liz Cheney, said on CNN on Sunday that the committee had not reached a final decision about making referrals and downplayed any divisions on the committee, but acknowledged there was significant evidence of criminality.
National: Senators push for details on protecting election officials amid threat concerns | Jordain Carney/The Hill
Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the chairwoman and ranking member of the Senate Rules Committee, are pressing a federal agency for details on how it is working to support election workers facing a growing number of threats following the 2020 election. Klobuchar and Blunt sent a letter this week to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) that was first obtained by The Hill saying they had “heard about a number of challenges” election workers are facing in the lead up to the midterm elections. “The EAC plays a critical role in ensuring that election officials have the necessary information and resources to administer secure and successful elections, and it is important for the EAC to be prepared to support election officials as they work to address these obstacles,” they wrote in the letter. The two senators pointed to myriad potential hurdles that election workers face, including cybersecurity, misinformation, increased threats and the ability to recruit election workers. Full Article: Senators push for details on protecting election officials amid threat concerns | The HillNational: Intel: Putin may cite Ukraine war to meddle in US politics | Nomaan Merchant/Associated Press
Russian President Vladimir Putin may use the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine as a pretext to order a new campaign to interfere in American politics, U.S. intelligence officials have assessed. Intelligence agencies have so far not found any evidence that Putin has authorized measures like the ones Russia is believed to have undertaken in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections in support of former President Donald Trump, according to several people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive findings. But given Putin’s antipathy toward the West and his repeated denunciations of Ukraine, officials believe he may see the U.S. backing of Ukraine’s resistance as a direct affront to him, giving him further incentive to target another U.S. election, the people said. It is not yet clear which candidates Russia might try to promote or what methods it might use. The assessment comes with the U.S. electoral system already under pressure. The American public remains sharply divided over the last presidential election and the insurrection that followed at the U.S. Capitol, when supporters of Trump tried to stop the certification of his loss to President Joe Biden. Trump has repeatedly assailed intelligence officials and claimed investigations of Russian influence on his campaigns to be political vendettas.
Full Article: Intel: Putin may cite Ukraine war to meddle in US politics | AP NewsArizona Attorney General report finds no evidence of mass fraud in Maricopa County 2020 election results | Vaughn Hillyard and Zoë Richards/NBC
A report issued Wednesday by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich found no evidence of widespread voter fraud or irregularities associated with the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County while raising concerns about some voting procedures. The interim report, six months into an investigation, was detailed in a 12-page letter to Senate President Karen Fann. Brnovich, a Republican, said his office “has left no stone unturned in the aftermath of the 2020 election.” Former President Donald Trump is pursuing a persistent pressure campaign to uncover any illegal activity that would support his false claims that he defeated President Joe Biden in Arizona 17 months ago. Trump lost Arizona by less than 10,500 votes, and a GOP-commissioned review in Maricopa County confirmed Biden’s victory.
Full Article: Arizona AG report finds no evidence of mass fraud in Maricopa County 2020 election resultsColorado lawmakers advance bill to protect elections workers | James Anderson/Associated Press
A Colorado legislative panel advanced a bill Thursday to add protections for elections workers after hearing disturbing testimony about escalating threats that have prompted many to quit or take security training so they feel safe in their public-service work. State and local elections officials told the House State, Civic, Military, & Veterans Affairs Committee that their workers, from municipal front-office staff to county clerks to the state’s highest-ranking elections officials, have experienced an escalation of threats since the 2020 presidential election. The threats — delivered by email, phone, or by the posting on social media of home addresses of workers and their family members — have left some local authorities confronting staff shortages ahead of Colorado’s June primaries and the November midterms. The threats have also prompted some workers to wear bulletproof vests to and from work around elections time and add active-shooter training to routine elections training in several counties, said the bill’s sponsors and several county clerks. Colorado’s elections workers “have truly faced unprecedented threats, especially over the past two years, simply for doing their jobs,” said Democratic Rep. Emily Sirota, a bill sponsor.
Full Article: Colorado lawmakers advance bill to protect elections workers | AP News