National

The rise of powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tools is posing a significant threat to the integrity of political campaigns and elections. Sophisticated generative AI can rapidly create fake audio, video, and images that are realistic enough to deceive voters and manipulate public opinion. These AI-generated synthetic media can be used to spread misinformation, impersonate candidates, and mislead voters on a large scale and at a rapid pace. The implications for the 2024 campaigns and elections are troubling, as these tools can undermine trust and erode the democratic process. Experts warn that society is ill-prepared to combat this emerging threat, and urgent measures are needed to address the potential consequences of AI-generated political disinformation. Legislation requiring labeling of AI-generated campaign advertisements and synthetic images has been proposed, but more comprehensive solutions are required to safeguard elections from AI manipulation. Read Article

National: Generative AI Adds New Dimensions to Election Interference | Carl Smith/Governing

The spread of misinformation through social media, fueled by artificial intelligence (AI), has created significant challenges for election officials. AI tools have the potential to worsen this problem, amplifying falsehoods and slander about election processes and officials. The resulting atmosphere of harassment and threats towards election officials has even led to the assault on the Capitol building. As AI continues to advance, the public sector needs to find ways to combat the potential disruptions and negative consequences it may bring, whether through collaboration with the industry or the use of AI tools to counter misinformation. Read Article

National: Trump Was Implicated in a Vote Machine Theft. Why Isn’t DOJ Investigating? | Ben Clements and Susan Greenhalgh/Slate

Federal investigators are seemingly overlooking Donald Trump’s potential involvement in a criminal conspiracy to access and copy voting software systems as part of the larger scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Testimony suggests that Trump was at least aware of the unlawful scheme, which was discussed with him in an Oval Office meeting prior to the January 6 electoral college count. Evidence has emerged of multiple software breaches orchestrated by Trump’s campaign, including instances in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Georgia. Despite the evidence and requests for investigation, there has been no federal inquiry into this software scheme, its connection to the broader conspiracy, or its potential implications for future elections. A thorough federal investigation is necessary to hold accountable those involved and to safeguard the integrity of future elections. Read Artiole

National: States share services as DHS cyber grants roll out | Benjamin Freed/StateScoop

State Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) in the United States are prioritizing election security by sharing their cybersecurity services and tools with local governments, school districts, and other political subdivisions. They are utilizing funds from the $1 billion cybersecurity grant program established under the Biden administration’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending law. Instead of implementing complex subgrant processes, states are leveraging the funds to bolster election cybersecurity capabilities in smaller public-sector entities. Initiatives include assisting local governments in implementing multi-factor authentication, migrating to the .gov domain, and providing training on cybersecurity skills. This collaborative approach aims to strengthen election defenses across diverse jurisdictions and promote shared security measures throughout the states. Read Article

National: The Supreme Court has an electoral ‘bomb’ on its hands. Will it defuse it before 2024? | Zach Montellaro/Politico

The U.S. Supreme Court’s resolution of the Moore v. Harper case, which addresses the controversial independent state legislature (ISL) theory, may not occur this year. The theory, championed by conservative legal scholars, diminishes the role of state courts in interpreting election laws set by state legislatures. However, uncertainty looms as the Supreme Court could choose to avoid issuing a decision, potentially leading to chaos in the 2024 election. Proponents argue that accepting the theory could grant state legislatures unchecked authority to shape election rules, potentially enabling partisan gerrymandering and unfair changes to voter registration and ballot casting regulations. The lack of a clear decision could disrupt both congressional and presidential elections, fueling concerns among critics and legal experts. The fate of the Moore case remains uncertain, and its resolution will have significant implications for future elections. Read Article

Let white-hat hackers stick a probe in those voting machines, say senators | Jessica Lyons Hardcastle/The Register

US voting machines would undergo deeper examination for computer security holes under proposed bipartisan legislation. Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) this week introduced an amendment to the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) that would require the nation’s Election Assistance Commission to include penetration testing in its certification process of voting hardware and software. That tech would need to undergo pen testing before it could be used in elections.

Read Article: US lawmakers push voting system pen testing, bug disclosure • The Register

National: Six months after midterm losses, election deniers mount new efforts | Matthew Brown/The Washington Post

Many Republicans who denied or questioned the results of the 2020 US presidential election have refused to abandon their baseless claims, despite losing the 2022 midterms. Such figures have continued to campaign, using their defeat as a platform to spread lies and conspiracy theories, such as claims of voter fraud, which undermine the legitimacy of the country’s democratic system. Many of these candidates are also seeking to build popularity and power in conservative circles, and some are running for key positions of power. In particular, they are running for secretary of state in key swing states and for the Senate in Nevada and Arizona, among other positions. Read Article

National: Under the Radar, Right-Wing Push to Tighten Voting Laws Persists | By Nick Corasaniti and Alexandra Berzon/The New York Times

Republican-led legislatures in the US are continuing to pass significant restrictions on access to the ballot, including limits to voting by mail in Ohio, a ban on ballot drop boxes in Arkansas, and shortened early voting windows in Wyoming, largely under the radar. A network of billionaire-backed advocacy groups has formed a new hub of election advocacy within the Republican Party, rallying state activists, drafting model legislation and setting priorities. While the downshift in ambitions is strategic, signs also suggest that Republicans have become wary of some types of restrictions and the party has increasingly warned that its opposition to mail and early voting is discouraging Republican voters from casting ballots and costing the party races. Read Article

National: Alarm after lawyer who aided Trump’s 2020 election lie attacks campus voting | Peter Stone/The Guardian

Cleta Mitchell, a right-wing election lawyer and ally of Donald Trump, is facing criticism for advocating restrictions on college student voting, same-day voter registration, and absentee voting. Mitchell, who has a history of promoting stricter voting rules based on unsupported claims of fraud, made these comments in a private address to Republican donors. Voting watchdogs and bipartisan critics argue that Mitchell’s proposals are partisan and undemocratic, aimed at suppressing disfavored populations of voters. Mitchell’s role in advising Trump during his attempts to overturn the 2020 election has also drawn legal scrutiny. Read Article

National: New Twitter rules expose election offices to spoof accounts | Ali Swenson/Associated Press

Twitter’s recent verification overhaul has created confusion and risks for election security. The account for Philadelphia’s election commission lost its check mark, making it hard to distinguish it from fake accounts. They applied for verification but haven’t heard back. Election administrators struggle with Twitter’s inconsistent system and fear misinformation. Impostor accounts and the spread of fake information are concerns. Experts warn that this undermines public trust during elections. Read Article

National: Bill calls for voting systems to undergo penetration testing | CBS19

Senators Mark Warner and Susan Collins have introduced the SECURE IT Act, a bill aimed at strengthening the United States’ election infrastructure. The bill proposes requiring voting systems to undergo penetration testing, a type of simulated attack that allows researchers to identify vulnerabilities by using the same tools and techniques as cybercriminals. The legislation also seeks to establish accreditation for entities that can perform penetration testing and create a program for coordinated vulnerability disclosure, enabling researchers to access voting systems, identify vulnerabilities, and disclose them to manufacturers and the Election Assistance Commission.

Read Article: Bill calls for voting systems to undergo penetration testing –

National: Presidential battleground states weigh more election funding | James Pollard and David A. Lieb/Associted Press

Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, officials in several battleground states have proposed boosting funding to add staff, enhance security and expand training within election offices that are facing heavier workloads and heightened public scrutiny. The potential extra funding comes as many election offices are grappling with a wave of retirements and a flood of public records requests, stemming partly from lingering election distrust seeded by former President Donald Trump in his 2020 defeat. In South Carolina, host of one of the earliest presidential primaries, almost half of county election directors have resigned in the last two years, said state Election Commission Executive Director Howard Knapp. The unprecedented turnover has created an “enormous knowledge and competency gap,” Knapp said, prompting a budget request for millions of additional state dollars to boost staffing and training. Without the funds, Knapp warned the gap will grow and elections will be “severely impacted.” “I can’t control county directors leaving,” said Knapp. He added, “What I can control is this agency’s ability to deliver quality training to the counties so that it doesn’t matter who is in the chair, they will have an established training program that they can take themselves and they can impart.”

Full Article: Presidential battleground states weigh more election funding | AP News

National: GOP election officials walking fine line on fraud, integrity | Julie Carr Smyth/Associated Press

The Republican secretaries of state in Ohio, West Virginia and Missouri have promoted their states’ elections as fair and secure. Yet each also is navigating a fine line on how to address election fraud conspiracies as they gear up campaigns for U.S. Senate or governor in 2024. The split-screen messaging of Ohio’s Frank LaRose, West Virginia’s Mac Warner and Missouri’s Jay Ashcroft shows just how deeply election lies have burrowed into the Republican Party, where more than half of voters believe Democrat Joe Biden was not legitimately elected president. Even election officials who tout running clean elections at home are routinely pushing for more voting restrictions and additional scrutiny on the process as they prepare to face GOP primary voters next year. All three withdrew their states last month from the Electronic Registration Information Center, a bipartisan, multistate effort to ensure accurate voter lists. LaRose did so less than a month after calling the group “one of the best fraud-fighting tools that we have” and vowing to maintain Ohio’s membership. He defied backlash against the organization stoked by former President Donald Trump before relenting.

Full Article: GOP election officials walking fine line on fraud, integrity | AP News

National: Dominion is not done fighting 2020 election lies. A look at its other cases | Sam Levine/The Guardian

When Dominion settled its closely-watched $787.5m defamation lawsuit against Fox last month, its lawyers made it clear that the company would continue to pursue legal action against those who spread false claims about the company and the 2020 election. The company still has major defamation cases pending against Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Patrick Byrne and Mike Lindell – all allies of Donald Trump who were some of the most prominent figures that spread election lies involving the voting machine company on television and elsewhere after the 2020 election. “Money is accountability and we got that today from Fox, but we’re not done yet. We’ve got some other people who have some accountability coming towards them,” Stephen Shackelford, a lawyer who represented the company, said outside the courthouse after the settlement was reached. Dominion also has ongoing defamation lawsuits against Newsmax and One America News Network, conservative outlets that prominently promoted lies about the 2020 election. Smartmatic, another voting company, is also suing many of the same figures and has its own $2.7bn defamation suit against Fox and its own cases against many of the same defendants. In order to win, Dominion will have to clear the high bar of showing that those responsible for making the defamatory statement knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. Dominion built an unusually strong case against Fox, producing reams of evidence showing that executives and top hosts knew the claims about the election were false. The strength of its Fox case doesn’t necessarily mean it will have an ironclad case against OAN and Newsmax, said Anthony Glassman, a defamation lawyer.

Full Article: Dominion is not done fighting 2020 election lies. A look at its other cases | US elections 2020 | The Guardian

National: Times Asks Judge in Fox-Dominion Case to Rule on Redactions | Jeremy W. Peters/The New York Times

The New York Times and a consortium of media organizations are asking a judge to rule whether Fox News improperly redacted portions of texts and email exchanges that were introduced as evidence in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against the network. Dominion and Fox settled the case last month for $787.5 million, in what is believed to be the largest out-of-court payout in a defamation case. But left unaddressed was a legal challenge filed by The Times in January that sought to unseal some of what Fox and Dominion had marked as confidential in their legal filings. On Monday, a lawyer representing The Times wrote to Judge Eric M. Davis of Delaware Superior Court saying that the issue was not moot simply because the case had been settled. There is strong legal precedent, the letter said, affirming the public’s right to understand what unfolded in cases that are resolved before they go to trial.

Full Article: Times Asks Judge in Fox-Dominion Case to Rule on Redactions – The New York Times

National: A top GOP lawyer wants to crack down on the college vote. States already are. – Zachary Roth/Virginia Mercury

A top Republican election lawyer recently caused a stir when she told GOP donors that the party should work to make it harder for college students to vote in key states. But the comments from Cleta Mitchell, who worked closely with then-President Donald Trump to try to overturn the 2020 election, are perhaps less surprising than they seem. They follow numerous efforts in recent years by Republican lawmakers across the country to restrict voting by college students, a group that leans Democratic. And they come at a time when the youth vote has been surging. At an April 15 retreat for donors to the Republican National Committee, Mitchell, a leader in the broader conservative push to impose new voting restrictions, called on her party to find ways to tighten the rules for student voting in several battleground states. Mitchell’s comments were first posted online by the independent progressive journalist Lauren Windsor. With Republicans now enjoying veto-proof majorities in both of North Carolina’s chambers, Mitchell said, the party has a chance to crack down on voting by students there.

Full Article: A top GOP lawyer wants to crack down on the college vote. States already are. – Virginia Mercury

National: Dominion speaks out after Fox News settlement | Dan Primack/Axios

Fox News, one of America’s most powerful media companies, earlier this month agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, related to false statements made about Dominion on Fox‘s air.

John Poulos, CEO of Dominion Voting Systems: We founded the company in 2003. The first check was from my sister for $50,000. We survived and grew in the following years, really relying on friends and family. By the time we got to 2017, heading into 2018, two things happened: One was the friends and family were looking for an exit. We hadn’t distributed anything, not even a dollar to our investors, even though we had grown substantially. So we hired an investment bank in late 2017. They identified a number of interested parties, one of which was a strategic that wanted to buy 100% of the equity. We weren’t interested. As part of that process, I met Hootan.

Full Article: Dominion speaks out after Fox News settlement

National push to bolster security of key election technology | Christina A. Cassidy/Associated Press

An effort to create a national testing program for technology central to U.S elections will be launched later this year, aiming to strengthen the security of equipment that has been targeted by foreign governments and provided fertile ground for conspiracy theories. So far, states have been left on their own to evaluate the technology that provides the backbone of election operations: voter registration databases, websites used to report unofficial results on election night and electronic pollbooks, which are used instead of paper rolls to check in voters at polling places. The nonprofit Center for Internet Security hopes to provide the nation’s first uniform testing program for the technology, similar to one for voting machines. Its goal is to start the voluntary service in September as a way to help boost the security and reliability of the technology before the 2024 presidential election. In 2020, 15 states, including Arizona, Florida and Nevada, did not require any type of electronic pollbook testing or certification, according to federal data. “This is a critical need being filled at a critical time,” said Chris Wlaschin, senior vice president for Election Systems & Software, a leading voting machine manufacturer that also produces electronic pollbooks. “I think as more election officials learn about it, the more they’re going to ask for it.”

Full Article: National push to bolster security of key election technology | AP News

Roy Saltman, election expert who warned of hanging chads, dies at 90 | Michael S. Rosenwald/The Washington Post

Roy G. Saltman, who as the federal government’s top expert on voting technology wrote a prescient but little-read report warning about hanging chads on punch-card ballots, more than a decade before the issue paralyzed the nation during the 2000 presidential election recount in Florida, died April 21 at a nursing home in Rockville, Md. He was 90. The cause was complications from several recent strokes, said his grandson Max Saltman. Like legions of Washington bureaucrats who are vital figures in their narrow fields but largely unknown to the wider public, Mr. Saltman toiled in obscurity for decades at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where he wrote several reports examining the history of voting devices and the problems with them. In a 132-page report published in 1988, Mr. Saltman detailed how hanging chads — the tiny pieces of cardboard that sometimes aren’t totally punched out on ballots — had plagued several recent elections, including a 1984 race for property appraiser in Palm Beach County, Fla. “It is recommended,” Mr. Saltman wrote, “that the use of pre-scored punch card ballots be ended.”

Full Article: Roy Saltman, election expert who warned of hanging chads, dies at 90 – The Washington Post

National: Massive turnover in local election officials likely before 2024, says new survey | Jane C. Timm/NBC

A new survey from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law predicts huge turnover in local election officials before the 2024 election. According to the survey, 12% of local officials began working in their roles after the 2020 election and 11% said they were very or somewhat likely to quit before next year’s election. A small number fell into both categories: new employees who suggested they will leave. Such turnover — about 1 in 5 of all election workers — is significant, the Brennan Center said, and equivalent to one to two election officials’ leaving office every day since the 2020 election. Harassment and threats may be driving some of the departures. Thirty percent of respondents said they’d been personally harassed, abused or threatened, while 22% said they personally knew of election officials who had left their jobs “at least in part because of fear for their safety, increased threats, or intimidation.” (Just 4% of respondents said they knew “many” election officials who were quitting for that reason; the rest said they knew “one or two.”)

Full Article: Massive turnover in local election officials likely before 2024, says new survey

National: Testimony Suggests Trump Was at Meeting About Accessing Voting Software in 2020 | Richard Fausset and Danny Hakim/The New York Times

Former President Donald J. Trump took part in a discussion about plans to access voting system software in Michigan and Georgia as part of the effort to challenge his 2020 election loss, according to testimony from former Trump advisers. The testimony, delivered to the House Jan. 6 committee, was highlighted on Friday in a letter to federal officials from a liberal-leaning legal advocacy group. Allies of Mr. Trump ultimately succeeded in copying the elections software in those two states, and the breach of voting data in Georgia is being examined by prosecutors as part of a broader criminal investigation into whether Mr. Trump and his allies interfered in the presidential election there. The former president’s participation in the discussion of the Georgia plan could increase his risk of possible legal exposure there. A number of Trump aides and allies have recounted a lengthy and acrimonious meeting in the Oval Office on Dec. 18, 2020, which one member of the House Jan. 6 committee would later call “the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency.” During the meeting, then-President Trump presided as his advisers argued about whether they should seek to have federal agents seize voting machines to analyze them for fraud.

Full Article: Testimony Suggests Trump Was at Meeting About Accessing Voting Software in 2020 – The New York Times

National: The pessimist’s case on the state of American democracy | Zach Montdellaro/Politico

The 2022 election was cast as a defining moment for the future of American democracy, as ballots were filled with election conspiracy-minded candidates running for the offices that actually oversee elections. Most of the focus — including from yours truly — was on the very top of the pyramid: secretaries of state, who in most states serve as the chief election official. A cadre of Trump-aligned election deniers ran for that position in battleground states across the country. Every single one of them lost, either in a Republican primary or to a Democrat in November. At the time, it was framed as a big victory for “lowercase d” democrats — the collective wins of election officials who aren’t likely to entertain a Trumpian attempt to overthrow an election were viewed as a critical bulwark for the security of the 2024 results. Don’t be so sure. A new report shared first with Nightly from Informing Democracy — an under-the-radar research nonprofit of election experts, researchers, and lawyers — argues that while it was a normative good that those top-of-the-ticket candidates lost, people are missing the forest for a few particularly tall trees.

Full Article: The pessimist’s case on the state of American democracy – POLITICO

National: Smartmatic defeats patent lawsuit from voting machine rival ES&S | Blake Brittain/Reuters

Voting technology company Smartmatic USA Corp on Tuesday fended off a patent infringement lawsuit brought by competitor Election Systems & Software LLC, persuading a federal judge that the last patent remaining in the case is invalid. U.S. District Judge Richard Andrews in Delaware said the voting-machine patent covered unpatentable abstract ideas related to “the individual steps of voting.” “Our position has been vindicated and we look forward to putting this matter behind us,” Smartmatic general counsel Colin Flannery said in a statement. Representatives for ES&S did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Omaha, Nebraska-based ES&S sued the U.S. branch of London-based Smartmatic in Delaware in 2018. It said Smartmatic infringed two patents related to improved voter-assistance terminals and ballot-marking devices in voting machines that allow for “more accurate, secure, and efficient voting,” especially for users with physical impairments. ES&S said it learned of Smartmatic’s alleged infringement when the companies both submitted bids for a project to modernize Los Angeles County’s voting system, which Smartmatic won.

Full Article: Smartmatic defeats patent lawsuit from voting machine rival ES&S | Reuters

National: A second firm hired by Trump campaign found no evidence of election fraud | Josh Dawsey/The Washington Post

Former president Trump’s campaign quietly commissioned a second firm to study election fraud claims in the weeks after the 2020 election, and the founder of the firm was recently questioned by the Justice Department about his work disproving the claims. Ken Block, founder of the firm Simpatico Software Systems, studied more than a dozen voter fraud theories and allegations for Trump’s campaign in late 2020 and found they were “all false,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post. “No substantive voter fraud was uncovered in my investigations looking for it, nor was I able to confirm any of the outside claims of voter fraud that I was asked to look at,” he said. “Every fraud claim I was asked to investigate was false.” Block said he recently received a subpoena from special counsel Jack Smith’s office and met with federal prosecutors in Washington, but he declined to discuss his interactions with them. Block said he contemporaneously sent his findings disputing fraud claims in writing to the Trump campaign in late 2020.

Full Article: A second firm hired by Trump campaign found no evidence of election fraud – The Washington Post

National: Fox to hand over documents for 2nd voting machine lawsuit | Bobby Caina Calvan/Associated Press

Fox News agreed Wednesday to hand over thousands of documents to voting machine company Smartmatic, which is suing the network for defamation in a case similar to Dominion Voting Machines’ just-settled lawsuit. Smartmatic says Fox bears financial responsibility for airing false allegations that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election against former President Donald Trump. Last week, Fox agreed to pay Dominion nearly $800 million to avert a trial, although the ultimate cost to the media company is likely to be much lower. Smartmatic wants a $2.7 billion judgment, which far exceeds the $1.6 billion Dominion sought in its suit. No date has been set, and the case might not go to court for a couple of years. Smartmatic said in court filings that Fox “slow-rolled its production” of transcripts and other material that were created during the Dominion suit, and that Smartmatic had received just a small fraction of the more than 52,000 documents it requested as part of the discovery process.

Full Article: Fox to hand over documents for 2nd voting machine lawsuit | AP News

Georgia: Text messages reveal Trump operatives considered using breached voting data to decertify Senate runoff in 2021 | Zachary Cohen/CNN