National: Justice Department to seek tougher sentences for AI-fueled election crimes | Sean Lyngaas/CNN

Federal prosecutors will pursue tougher sentences in cases in which artificial intelligence is used to commit an election-related crime, including threatening violence against election workers and voter suppression, Deputy US Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Monday. The Justice Department policy change is an effort to keep pace with a chaotic information environment ahead of the 2024 presidential election, as AI tools have made it much easier to mimic politicians’ voices and likenesses to spread false information. The new policy applies to cases in which AI makes the election-related crime “more dangerous and more impactful,” Monaco said. Read Article

National: Lawmakers fret over who will report foreign election interference  | Derek B. Johnson/CyberScoop

When the U.S. government has credible evidence of a foreign nation interfering in an American election, who is responsible for sounding the alarm and what processes are in place to ensure it’s done in a responsible, nonpartisan manner? That question was top of mind for Senators on both sides of the aisle at a Wednesday hearing, when they sharply questioned Biden administration officials about their plans for notifying the public about a foreign power meddling in U.S. politics. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, noted that when a hurricane is headed toward the United States, the National Hurricane Center takes the lead to issue warnings “and people — Republicans, Democrats no matter who you’re going to vote for — are going to take the appropriate steps.” How that notification process works for foreign interference efforts is less clear, and the potential for political blowback in the heat of a national election is vast. Read Article

National: Lawmakers want EAC to develop guidance on AI’s risk to elections | Edward Graham/Nextgov/FCW

Bipartisan legislation introduced by a quartet of House lawmakers would push the nation’s top election administration agency to develop voluntary guidelines that address the potential impact of artificial intelligence technologies on the voting process. The bill would require that the Election Assistance Commission release public recommendations around the use of AI tools on the administration of elections. According to the proposal, the EAC’s voluntary guidelines should address “the risks and benefits” of AI on election administration; the cybersecurity risks of these technologies; how AI-generated and shared content can affect the sharing of accurate election information; and how AI-generated disinformation can undermine trust in the voting process. Read Article

National: Now armed with AI, America’s adversaries will try to influence election, security officials warn | David Klepper and Eric Tucker/Associated Press

America’s foreign adversaries will again seek to influence the upcoming U.S. elections, top security officials warned members of the Senate Wednesday, harnessing the latest innovations in artificial intelligence to spread online disinformation, mislead voters and undermine trust in democracy. But the U.S. has greatly improved its ability to safeguard election security and identify and combat foreign disinformation campaigns since 2016, when Russia sought to influence the election, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee. Read Article

Arizona judge says new voting rulebook meets state law, dismisses suit from national Republicans | Sasha Hupka Mary Jo Pitzl/Arizona Republic

A judge has ruled against the Republican National Committee in a lawsuit that challenged Arizona’s new voting rulebook and alleged it would allow election fraud. The suit, filed in February, is one of several from Republicans questioning the state’s new Elections Procedures Manual. That document serves as a guide to election management for county officials statewide and is produced every election cycle by the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office. Read Article

Arkansas Supreme Court overturns ruling challenging state election laws  Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a lower court’s ruling and dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of four election-related laws approved by the state Legislature in 2021.  The laws require voters who cast a provisional ballot to provide a photo ID by the Monday following an election for their vote to be counted, prohibit people from standing within 100 feet of a polling location, require county clerks to verify the voter’s signature on an absentee ballot application with the voter’s registration application, and shorten the deadline for in-person absentee ballot delivery. Read Article

Colorado Lawmakers Send Bills on AI, Deepfakes to Governor | Government Technology

During a busy legislative session, Colorado lawmakers are addressing various technological issues, including deepfakes, facial recognition, and consumer protection from AI. Senate Bill 24-205, which has cleared the legislature, regulates “high-risk AI systems” impacting critical infrastructure, mandating risk management policies and impact assessments to prevent discrimination. House Bill 24-1147, targeting deepfakes in political communications, criminalizes deceptive portrayals of presidential candidates and imposes civil penalties for misusing deepfake technology. Read Article

Georgia Elections Board Won’t Investigate Hall Booth Smith Lawyer in Voting Machine Breach Claims | Thomas Spigolon/Law.com

Georgia’s elections board won’t be investigating two groups’ allegation that a Hall Booth Smith lawyer’s private text message in 2020 suggests he may have withheld information about an alleged voting machine breach similar to a high-profile breach in a neighboring county. Additionally, the election supervisor for Ware County, Georgia, said the alleged breach in December 2020 never happened and that he was not familiar with the text message found during discovery in a long-standing lawsuit seeking to end the use of computer-based voting machines in Georgia. Leaders of the two voter advocacy groups, Free Speech for People and Coalition for Good Governance, asked Georgia’s State Election Board in an April letter to investigate the actions of Anthony Rowell, a Hall Booth partner who represents Ware County government, after a text message was found during discovery in the federal lawsuit Curling v. Raffensperger. Read Article

Michigan House panel weighs bills reforming election recounts | Katie O’Brien Kelley/Michigan Advance

The Michigan House Elections Committee heard testimony on Tuesday about Senate Bills 603 and 604, which would modify the recount process, filing fees for recounting and sentencing guidelines for certain Michigan election law violations that deal with recounts. Senate Bill 603 would allow recounts of precincts that have a mismatch between the number of ballots and the ballots issued to voters recorded in a polling place’s log or the ballots that were tabulated. “Under this bill, in cases where the number of ballots issued as shown in the poll book, the number of ballots tabulated as shown on the tabulator tape, or the number of ballots cast as shown by the county canvas are out of balance — but are out of balance at the same or fewer at the time of the recount — under my bill, the precincts can now be recounted as long as there is a satisfactory explanation and a sworn affidavit in a form prescribed by the Secretary of State,” said state Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), sponsor of the bill. Read Article

Nevada Supreme Court denies appeal of conservative activist seeking to oust county election official | Associated Press

A conservative activist who embraced unproven election fraud claims has lost an appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court in his bid to oust a top county election official and others. The high court on Wednesday upheld a lower-court judge’s earlier dismissal of Robert Beadles’ lawsuit, which claimed that Washoe County’s registrar of voters, the county manager and a county commissioner violated the state constitution by failing to respond to his complaints of fraud. “Taking all the factual allegations in the complaint as true and drawing every inference in favor of Beadles, he can prove no set facts that would entitle him to relief as pleaded,” the Supreme Court ruled. Read Article

Ohio: Why Biden isn’t on the November ballot — yet | Caroline Vakil/The Hill

Ohio state legislators are scrambling to get President Biden on the November ballot after members failed to break a legislative impasse this week.  State law says presidential candidates need to be certified with the state 90 days before the November election; this year, that date is Aug. 7. But Democrats are on track to miss that goal, given Biden is set to be formally nominated during the Democratic National Convention, which begins Aug. 19. Legislators in the state Senate and state House worked on competing proposals, but efforts to pass them through the state Capitol have stalled — raising questions around what steps members will take next to make sure Biden gets onto the ballot in the coming months. Read Article

Oregon elections officials meet with USPS after delays reported in some ballot returns | Dirk VanderHart/OPB

Oregon elections officials met with representatives from the United States Postal Service on Thursday morning, after concerns emerged that some post offices across the state were delaying delivery of completed ballots sent by mail. “In no uncertain terms, they have said, ‘We will fix this. This should not be happening,’” said Molly Woon, the state’s elections director. “We continue to have complete faith in the vote-by-mail system.” While Woon acknowledged that filled-out ballots have been delayed in reaching elections offices in Lincoln, Douglas and possibly other counties, she said those delays will not impact timeliness of results in the May 21 primary election if postal officials follow through on their promise. Read Article

Pennsylvania counties finish second audit of primary results before state certification | Jordan Wilkie/WITF

Pennsylvania’s primary results are still unofficial. To be approved, counties go through several processes to make sure everything worked well. A big step is auditing votes to make sure they were counted correctly on primary night. Counties finished the process today, the last major hurdle before Monday’s certification deadline. Results go through two checks. The first is a 2% audit. The second is a newer method called a risk-limiting audit. Commonly called an RLA, it is considered the gold standard tabulation audit recommended by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Mark Lindeman, policy director with the election technology and security nonprofit Verified Voting, helped the state design its RLA system. … “The math is complicated, but the idea is simple,” Lindeman said. “If you check vote counts from all over the state and they all can come back fine, you have pretty strong assurance that the vote counts are good.” Read Article

Pennsylvania: ACLU lawsuit targets mail ballot ‘notice and cure’ policy | Carter Walker/Votebeat

The ACLU of Pennsylvania is suing one county, and may file more cases, in an effort to challenge a policy that it says disenfranchises voters who make an error when casting ballots by mail. The case against Butler County, filed after the April primary, appears to be the start of a broader statewide effort by the group targeting the “notice and cure” process, a major gray area in state law that leads to uneven rules for voters across Pennsylvania. Along with that lawsuit, the organization has signaled it is considering another lawsuit, and has been filing public records requests to identify more counties that don’t allow voters to correct flawed mail ballots or provide notice to voters that their ballot will be rejected. Such records requests are often a precursor to a lawsuit. Read Article

Texas: Gillespie County election costs balloon after switch to hand count | Natalia Contreras/The Texas Trinue

The hand count of thousands of Republican primary election ballots in Gillespie County is on track to cost taxpayers more than double the wage costs of the 2020 Republican primary, according to records obtained by Votebeat. Public records show Republicans employed 350 people to hand count, who collectively reported working more than 2,300 hours the day of the election at a rate of $12 per hour. That means more than $27,000 in wages. Those numbers aren’t final, and they’re likely to grow. The tally does not include hourly wages for election clerks who worked at each of the county’s 13 precincts on election day checking in voters and performing duties other than counting. In addition, Gillespie Republicans will also hand-count ballots in a runoff election at the end of the month, which will add to the costs. Read Article

Wisconsin town under federal review after eliminating voting machines | Molly Beck/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The decision by a small board in the Town of Thornapple, Wisconsin, to eliminate electronic voting machines has drawn scrutiny from federal investigators, prompting questions about accessibility for voters with disabilities. The move to rely solely on hand-counted paper ballots, made in June 2023, has raised concerns about potential violations of federal laws mandating accessible voting options. The decision, which has roots in former President Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 presidential election, has led to a federal investigation and legal challenges. Despite assertions from town officials that assistance is available for voters with disabilities, advocacy groups argue that the removal of electronic machines restricts the ability of some voters to cast their ballots independently and privately. Read Article

Wisconsin Supreme Court to revisit ruling that banned most ballot drop boxes | Adam Edelman/NBC

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Monday in a pivotal case that will determine the future of absentee ballot drop boxes in the battleground state’s elections. The case will give the court’s liberal majority the opportunity to reverse a ruling the court made less than two years ago — when conservatives held the majority — that significantly reduced the number of absentee ballot drop boxes in the state. If the court’s current 4-3 liberal majority overturns that ruling, it could result in a return of the widespread use of absentee ballot drop boxes for the upcoming presidential election. Read Article

National: Homeland Security ramping up ‘with intensity’ to respond to election threats | Josh Meyer/USA Today

The Department of Homeland Security is preparing for a potentially unprecedented array of election threats, including meddling by foreign governments, bomb threats, intimidation at the polls and the intentional spreading of disinformation to confuse voters. “We are dealing with it with intensity,” Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. “The right to vote and the integrity of the right to vote − and therefore of the election itself − is a fundamental element of our democracy. “This is a nonpartisan effort,” he stressed. “And, in fact, all our efforts across this department are nonpartisan.” Read Article

Former township clerk and lawyer in Michigan face charges over voter data breach | Megan Lebowitz and Gary Grumbach/NBC

A former township clerk and her attorney will face charges in Michigan over allegations of a voter data breach related to the 2020 election, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Wednesday. Former Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott and her private attorney, Stefanie Lambert, allowed “an unauthorized computer examiner access to voter data, including non-public voter information, concerning the 2020 General Election,” Nessel’s office alleged in a news release. Scott faces six charges — five felonies and a misdemeanor — including concealing or withholding a voting machine and using a computer to commit a crime. Lambert faces three felony charges, including using a computer to commit a crime. It is unclear how they pleaded. Read Article

National: A group of Republicans has united to defend the legitimacy of US elections and those who run them | Christina A. Cassidy/Associated Press

It was Election Day last November, and one of Georgia’s top election officials saw that reports of a voting machine problem in an eastern Pennsylvania county were gaining traction online. So Gabriel Sterling, a Republican who had defended the 2020 election in Georgia amid an onslaught of threats, posted a message to his nearly 71,000 followers on the social platform X explaining what had happened and saying that all votes would be counted correctly. He faced immediate criticism from one commenter about why he was weighing in on another state’s election while other responses reiterated false claims about widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Read Article

National: ‘Terrifying’: Democrats say they have plans to keep electors safe from political violence | Phillip M. Bailey and Erin Mansfield USA Today

During the 2020 electoral process, Democratic elector Khary Penebaker faced daunting security measures as he cast his ceremonial vote for Joe Biden in Wisconsin. Amid heightened concerns of political violence and intimidation, Penebaker, along with other electors, was compelled to assemble at an undisclosed location, escorted by law enforcement through tunnels to access a closed-off room in the statehouse. The experience left Penebaker, a Black Democrat who ran for Congress in 2016, deeply unsettled, evoking comparisons to the courage of civil rights activists. The safety of electors like Penebaker has become a focal point for Democrats, scholars, and election watchdogs, particularly following instances of violence during the electoral process, such as the events of January 6, 2021. As concerns persist about the security of electors, state Democratic officials have initiated discussions and plans to safeguard their safety in anticipation of the 2024 election. Read Article

National: CISA, FBI resuming talks with social media firms over disinformation removal, Senate Intel chair says | David DiMolfetta/Nextgov/FCW

Federal agencies have resumed discussions with social media companies regarding the removal of disinformation on their platforms ahead of the November presidential election, marking a significant shift after months of halted communications due to a pending First Amendment case in the Supreme Court. Senator Mark Warner revealed that talks resumed amidst the Supreme Court hearing arguments in Murthy v. Missouri, a case prompted by allegations of federal agencies pressuring platforms to remove content related to vaccine safety and the 2020 presidential election. The Supreme Court is anticipated to rule on whether agencies can engage with social media firms regarding potential disinformation. Warner highlighted concerns about election interference and emphasized the need for the Biden administration to take a stronger stance against nation-state entities attempting to meddle in the U.S. election process. Read Article

National: FBI warns that foreign adversaries could use AI to spread disinformation about US elections | Eric Tucker/Associated Press

The FBI is concerned that foreign adversaries could deploy artificial intelligence as a means to interfere in American elections and spread disinformation, a senior official said Thursday, describing the technology as an area “that’s probably going to see growth over the coming years.” The threat is more than theoretical given the prevalence of AI deepfakes and robocalls and the way such technology has already surfaced in politics. The official noted an episode in Slovakia early this year in which audio clips resembling the voice of the liberal party chief — purportedly capturing him talking about hiking beer prices and rigging the vote — were shared widely on social media just days before parliamentary elections. The clips were deepfakes. Read Article

In Arizona, election workers trained with deepfakes to prepare for 2024 | Sarah Ellison and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez/The Washington Post

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes organized a groundbreaking training session for election workers, where they grappled with AI-generated scenarios designed to mimic potential threats during the upcoming election cycle. Participants from around the state faced challenges ranging from law enforcement operations to attempts to infiltrate technology systems. The exercise aimed to prepare election officials for the unprecedented threat of AI-generated deepfakes, which could undermine the integrity of elections. Following the event, a training document titled “How Election Officials Can Identify, Prepare for, and Respond to AI Threats” was created for distribution nationwide. Despite the daunting task of combating AI threats, practical suggestions emerged from the training, emphasizing the reinforcement of basic online security measures and the importance of verifying information before taking action. Read Article

California: District 16 recount reveals that one county was plagued with thumb flubs and other voting errors | Grace Hase and Harriet Blair Rowan/The Mercury News

In the end, it came down to 19 ballots in Santa Clara County that ultimately made the difference in the hotly contested Congressional District 16 race — ballots that were never counted the first time around due to simple human error. While a change equal to just a fraction of a percent of votes is unlikely to shift the entire results of most elections, a once-in-a-generation perfect tie in this case exposed the gaffes and fumbles by one county in the tabulation process. What followed the March primary was two months of counting and recounting more than 182,000 votes in the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo — a stunning saga that finally came to a close on Wednesday afternoon. Read Article

Colorado Lawmakers Pass First-in-Nation Mandate for Voting Centers in Jails | Alex Burness/Bolts

Scott Deno, overseeing Colorado’s largest jail in Colorado Springs, emphasizes facilitating voting for incarcerated individuals, yet a recent admission reveals zero votes cast in the last election among the jail’s population. This issue extends statewide, with only 231 jail votes in Colorado during the 2022 general election, despite a daily jail population of 6,000, disproportionately Black and Latinx. The passage of Senate Bill 72, awaiting Governor Jared Polis’s signature, aims to rectify this, mandating polling stations in local jails during general elections and establishing ballot drop-off locations, making Colorado the first state with such a requirement. Read Article

Georgia oversight panel ruminates on 2020 election hiccups as 2024 showdowns loom | Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder

The Georgia Election Board voted Tuesday to reprimand Fulton County and appoint an independent monitor for the 2024 election for violating state law while conducting a recount of the 2020 presidential election. In a 2-1 vote on the panel that oversees how counties conduct elections, members agreed to admonish Fulton County and order a monitor for this year’s campaigns. That allows the county to avoid paying a fine or having the attorney general investigate the double-counting of 3,075 ballots and other allegations of irregularities during the 2020 presidential recount. Georgia election officials determined mistakes in 2020 by county election workers would not have changed the outcome. Read Article

Michigan: Democrats contend GOP is using  lawsuits to sow election doubts | Craig Mauger The Detroit News

The Democratic National Committee submitted briefs Monday against two election lawsuits brought by Republicans in Michigan courts, arguing the GOP was attempting to “undermine faith in our electoral system.” The filings spotlighted Michigan as a crucial battleground state, six months before the November election, and also highlighted the significant role judges will likely play this year, amid a heightened focus on the policies and personnel guiding voting across the nation. Read Article

Nevada: GOP sues state over late mail-in ballots | Hillel Aron/Courthouse News Service

The Republican Party, along with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, filed a lawsuit against Nevada and its two largest counties over their policy of accepting mail-in ballots arriving up to four days after Election Day.  Nevada’s Secretary of State defended the state’s election practices, emphasizing their transparency and accessibility, while the Republicans expressed concerns about the disproportionate impact on Republican candidates and voters. Read Article

New Mexico Secretary of State raises awareness of deepfakes, misinformation | News | Cathy Cook/The Albuquerque Journal

As New Mexico gears up for the primary elections in June, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver is raising awareness about the potential risks of deepfakes and artificial intelligence in manipulating election information. Deepfakes, digitally altered photos, videos, or audio recordings created using generative AI, can convincingly imitate individuals’ likeness or voices, leading to concerns about spreading misinformation and discrediting individuals or institutions. While New Mexico has not yet experienced deepfake-related election misinformation, Toulouse Oliver emphasizes the importance of increasing awareness and enforcing disclosure requirements, as mandated by a recent law, to deter such activities. Read Article