National

Forget hush money payments to porn stars hidden as business expenses. Forget showing off classified documents about Iran attack plans to visitors, and then ordering the pool guy to erase the security tapes revealing that he was still holding onto documents that he had promised to return. Forget even corrupt attempts to interfere with election results in Georgia in 2020. The federal indictment just handed down by special counsel Jack Smith is not only the most important indictment by far of former President Donald Trump. It is perhaps the most important indictment ever handed down to safeguard American democracy and the rule of law in any U.S. court against anyone. Read Article

What 2020 Did — And Didn’t — Change About How Americans Vote | Kaleigh Rogers/FiveThirtyEight

The 2020 election brought about significant changes to the American voting system, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election. One of the most notable changes was the surge in mail-in voting, which had been steadily increasing since 1996 but intensified during the 2020 cycle. While the pandemic accelerated some trends, Mark Lindemann of Verified Voting notes that the larger trend was already moving away from paperless systems, with more and more jurisdictions adopting paper ballots marked by voters. However, Lindemann acknowledges that the push for hand-counting ballots, driven by distrust in machines, has emerged, but it remains in the minority. Overall, the 2020 election had a profound impact on voting methods and election infrastructure, setting the stage for a transformed landscape for future elections, with some aspects reflecting natural evolution while others were influenced by extraordinary circumstances. Read Article

National: Trump indicted over efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss | Eric Tucker and Michael Kunzelman/Associated Press

Donald Trump was indicted on felony charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the subsequent Capitol riot. The four-count indictment accuses Trump of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government, obstructing an official proceeding, and violating a civil rights statute by attempting to violate the right to vote. The charges provide further insight into his campaign of lies about the election results and how he sought to exploit the Capitol violence to delay the certification of Joe Biden’s victory. This marks the third criminal case against Trump and is the first time a defeated president is facing legal consequences for attempting to cling to power. Read Article

National: New guidelines mean the next voting machines should be more secure. No need to panic about the current ones. | Jessica Huseman/Votebeat

At a recent National Association of State Election Directors conference in South Carolina, the update to the Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines (VVSG 2.0) was discussed. The guidelines, originally adopted in 2005 and mildly updated in 2015, have undergone a full update in late 2021 to accommodate better technology and set standards for disabled voters’ interactions with voting machines. Despite the importance of these updates, there has been misinformation circulating on social media platforms and far-right blogs, claiming that all current voting machines will be compromised and decertified due to the new standard. This is false. The VVSG is a system of voluntary guidelines, and while new machines will be certified to the higher standard, existing machines will remain functional and reliable. The update is long overdue and welcomed by election administrators, as the current standards are outdated. The comparison to cars with updated safety features showcases that older machines will still be operational, just not certified to the latest standard. Read Article

National: Election disinformation campaigns targeted voters of color in 2020. Experts expect 2024 to be worse | Christine Fernando/Associated Press

Community organizations are bracing for an increase in disinformation campaigns targeting communities of color and immigrant communities as the 2024 election approaches. During the 2020 election, false claims, often tailored to specific communities, spread on social media, impacting the perceptions and trust in the voting process among people of color. Tailored disinformation targeted topics of importance to each community, exploiting their fears and past experiences in their home countries. Language barriers and reliance on translated content for voting information also contributed to the spread of misinformation. Advocates are urging social media companies to invest in content moderation and fact-checking in languages other than English, while government and election officials should make voting information more accessible to non-English speakers and organize media literacy trainings in community spaces to combat disinformation. Read Article

Georgia election security upgrades considered after Capitol meeting | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia election officials are considering a faster and more extensive rollout of upgrades to Dominion voting machines in response to concerns over election security. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced a plan for election equipment testing and audits to ensure voting equipment’s accuracy ahead of the 2024 presidential campaign. The move comes after a federal judge unsealed a report by a computer scientist that identified “critical vulnerabilities” in the voting system. Dominion’s voting system has faced criticism since the 2020 election, especially from Republican supporters of Donald Trump. The upgrades will not be installed in counties preparing for local elections this fall, but Raffensperger signaled a willingness to move forward in other counties. ‘Read Article

Activists for hand-counting ballots don’t acknowledge drawbacks: More mistakes, time, and money | Jessica Huseman/Votebeat

The effort to expand hand-counting ballots in elections continues despite evidence that it is less accurate, more time-consuming, and costly compared to using tabulators. Advocates claim hand-counting is straightforward, but in reality, it involves complex processes, requiring many people, time, and space, leading to increased opportunities for errors. Hand-counting is less efficient in the United…

National: Head of US cybersecurity agency sees progress on election security, with more work needed for 2024 | Christina A. Cassidy/Associated Press

The head of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Jen Easterly, announced plans to strengthen election system protection by hiring 10 additional election security specialists who will interact directly with state and local officials. Despite significant progress in safeguarding election systems since the 2016 presidential election, there are growing concerns about emerging threats,…

National: Meta’s Threads needs a policy for election disinformation, voting groups say | Dara Kerr/NPR

Threads, the new social media platform launched by Facebook’s parent company Meta, has gained tens of millions of users in less than a month. However, voting rights groups are concerned as Threads has not outlined a plan to curb election disinformation on the site. The groups, including Vote.org and End Citizens United, sent a letter to Meta asking for a robust plan to ensure strong election policies are in place, especially with the 2024 election cycle approaching. While Meta claims that Facebook’s rules apply to Threads, the voting rights groups argue that a standalone policy is necessary to clarify implementation and enforcement. Read Article

National: ‘Local elections are at risk’: Senator Warnock reintroduces legislation to stop election interference | Ambria Burton/Georgia Public Broadcasting

Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock has reintroduced the Preventing Election Subversion Act of 2023 in Congress to protect local state election administrations from partisan interference and address challenges with voter registration. The bill aims to limit the baseless removal of local election officials, allowing removal only for specific reasons, and provides a federal cause of action to enforce this standard. It also addresses voter challenges by requiring personal knowledge to support each individual challenge and aims to prevent the targeting of specific demographics based on their beliefs or background. Warnock’s bill comes after a study showed that at least 20 states have introduced bills focused on election interference, raising concerns about partisan subversion and interference in the democratic process. Read Article

National Association of Counties Adopts Resolution Urging Congress to Protect Election Officials from Threats, Intimidation | Kevin Kinnally/Conduit Street

The National Association of Counties (NACo) has passed a resolution urging Congress to impose appropriate penalties for threats and intimidation against public servants responsible for fair elections. The resolution calls for legislation to penalize offenses such as harassing or intimidating election officials, threatening them or their families, attempting to pressure officials to violate state law or the Constitution, and disseminating personal information about them. Election officials are facing increased attacks, with nearly one in three experiencing harassment, abuse, or threats. Read Article

National: First Findings Shed Light on Role of Social Media Algorithms in 2020 Election | UT News

An academic team from multiple universities collaborated with Meta to study the impact of social media on the 2020 U.S. election. The researchers found that algorithms had a significant effect on what users saw on their feeds, but changing the algorithms for a few months did not impact participants’ political attitudes. The study, co-led by researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and New York University, aimed to understand the influence of social media on American democracy. Despite altering various aspects of Meta’s algorithm for three months during the election period, including removing reshared content and changing to a chronological feed, there were no significant effects on political polarization or ideological extremity. Further research from the project will provide insights into the content and behavior on the platforms. Read Article

National: AI Disinformation Drives Lawmaker Fears About 2024 ‘Wild West’ | Oma Seddiq and Amelia Davidson/Bloomberg

As the 2024 elections approach, lawmakers are facing a short timeframe and lack of consensus to address the threat of deepfakes, which could manipulate and shape the outcome of the elections. The increased use of artificial intelligence by political campaigns has surpassed the efforts of Congress, political parties, and regulators to address the technology’s potential for disinformation. Some Democrats have introduced bills to require labeling on political advertisements that use AI, but Republicans have been slow to support such legislation. Congress is still grappling with understanding the rapidly evolving technology and may be months away from introducing comprehensive legislation to address AI’s threats in elections. In the meantime, political ad spending on deepfakes is expected to increase, raising concerns about the spread of false and misleading content to voters. Read Article

National: Trump condemned Jan. 6 rioters, now he’s become a big supporter | Jill Colvin/Associated Press

Former President Donald Trump, who initially condemned the violence of the January 6, 2021 Capitol rioters, has now evolved to downplaying the violence, praising the rioters as patriots, and spreading false claims about the attack. He is currently the early front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary and has vowed to pardon a “large portion” of Jan. 6 defendants if he wins a second term. He has also fundraised for them, befriended their families, and collaborated on a song featuring Jan. 6 defendants singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” over a prison phone line. Trump’s evolution comes as Republicans, public opinion, and some in Congress have sought to recast the mob as nonviolent and downplay the severity of the attack. Read Article

Georgia: Republican promoters of election fraud approve ballot hand-counts | Justin Glawe/The Guardian

The elections office in Spalding County, Georgia, which is run by Republicans promoting falsehoods about the 2020 election, has approved a motion to implement automatic hand recounts for all future elections. The decision requires elections staff to hand-count each ballot and compare the totals with those reached by voting tabulation machines. Hand counts are slower and less reliable than machine tabulations. The lone Democrat on the board initially supported the idea but objected when the Republicans did not consider the costs to taxpayers. Read Article

Disinformation reimagined: how AI could erode democracy in the 2024 US elections | Nick Robins-Early/The Guardian

Experts are concerned about the potential impact of AI-generated disinformation on elections. The rise of artificial intelligence tools that can create realistic images, mimic human voices, and write human-like text is making it easier to produce and spread deceptive political content on a massive scale. Such content not only threatens to deceive audiences but also erodes trust in the information ecosystem. AI-generated disinformation can be used for voter suppression, spread misinformation to target specific groups, and create false constituencies. Campaigns have already begun dabbling in using AI-generated content for political purposes, and there are concerns that the proliferation of such content will make fact-checking difficult and corrode public trust in information. Read Article

National: Democrats rally around election proposal as counterpoint to GOP plan | Justin Papp/Roll Call

Democratic lawmakers, joined by public interest groups, are promoting the bicameral bill known as the Freedom to Vote Act, which aims to expand voting access, prevent partisan gerrymandering, and curb the influence of dark money in elections. The bill has been reintroduced after stalling in the Senate during the 117th Congress. Democrats argue that the proposed legislation is essential to protect democracy, while Republicans are pushing their own plan called the American Confidence in Elections Act, which includes voter ID requirements and restricts federal government access to political donor rolls. The Republicans’ bill has been labeled the “Big Lie Bill” by Democrats, who claim it aims to suppress specific groups of voters, especially Black voters and voters of color. Both bills are part of the ongoing debate over voting rights and election integrity in the United States. Read Article

National: Smartmatic subpoenas Flynn, Bannon in defamation lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax | Marshall Cohen/CNN

Voting technology company Smartmatic has issued subpoenas to Trump allies Michael Flynn and Steve Bannon as part of its defamation lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax. The lawsuits stem from the promotion of 2020 election lies, with Smartmatic seeking $2.7 billion from Fox and an unspecified amount from Newsmax for disseminating false information that harmed the company’s business. Both Flynn and Bannon played significant roles in Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results, and they have faced their own legal troubles in the past. Fox News and Newsmax deny wrongdoing and are contesting the lawsuits. Read Article

National: Intelligence nominee warns generative AI poses threat to 2024 elections | Maggie Miller/Politico

Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh, Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the NSA and Cyber Command, expressed concerns about the potential threat of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Haugh testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee that foreign actors might attempt to use generative AI to interfere with the electoral process. The use of AI in disinformation campaigns poses new challenges for organizations like Cyber Command and the NSA, which have previously monitored and disrupted threats to U.S. elections. Senators from both parties are calling for regulations and monitoring of AI technologies to address the risks of disinformation and potential foreign interference. Read Article

National: AI could create a disinformation nightmare in the 2024 election | Joshua A. Tucker/The Hill

The rapid evolution of social media from a tool for democratization to a threat to democracy has raised concerns about the role of AI, specifically language models like ChatGPT, in spreading political misinformation. The rise of social media reduced the cost of spreading misinformation, and now AI has lowered the barriers to producing misinformation by generating high-quality text and images. AI-generated images may be easier to address through labeling with unalterable watermarks or metadata, but detecting AI-generated text will require the use of other AI methods, potentially leading to greater ambiguity and claims of bias. The responsibility ultimately falls on social media platforms, which remain the primary means of spreading misinformation, and the need for transparency and regulation is crucial. Read Article

Michigan charges 16 Trump electors who falsely claimed he won the state | Patrick Marley/The Washington Post

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, has charged 16 Republicans, including former state Republican Party co-chairwoman Meshawn Maddock, with forgery and other felonies for falsely claiming to be the state’s 2020 presidential electors. The charges stem from a state investigation into the submission of official-looking paperwork to the federal government asserting they were casting the state’s electoral votes for former President Donald Trump, despite Joe Biden winning Michigan. These charges mark the first criminal prosecution against Trump electors as investigations into attempts to overturn election results intensify across the country. Read Article

Montana: The back-and-forth over voting rights | Alex Sakariassen/Montana Free Press

Plaintiffs, including the Montana Democratic Party, tribal stakeholders, and youth engagement organizations, have filed legal briefs in response to Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen’s appeal over four election laws that were blocked in 2021. The appeal centers on the level of legal scrutiny applied to the laws that ended same-day voter registration, barred paid ballot collection, and implemented stricter voter ID requirements. The plaintiffs argue that the laws are unconstitutional and infringe on Montanans’ right to vote, while Jacobsen maintains they are necessary to combat voter fraud and safeguard election integrity. Additionally, the appeal addresses a fourth law that was struck down, which prevented county officials from sending absentee ballots to minors turning 18 on or before Election Day, deemed as denying voting access to that subgroup. Two groups, the Montana Federation of Public Employees and a coalition of state constitution and election law scholars, have expressed support for the plaintiffs in the case. Read Article

National: The self-inflicted voting machine misinformation crisis looming over 2024 | Zach Montellaro/Politico

Election officials in the United States are concerned that upcoming changes to voting machine certification guidelines by the federal government will be exploited to spread misinformation and undermine trust in the 2024 election. After enduring contentious election cycles in recent years, officials fear that false information about the consequences of the changes will circulate, much like the conspiracy theories surrounding the security of voting machines after the 2020 election. The new standards, aimed at improving cybersecurity and accessibility, will be implemented in November 2023, just before the presidential election, leading officials to worry that public scrutiny and misinterpretation of the guidelines may erode public confidence in the electoral process. Read Article

National: Secretaries of State brace for wave of AI-fueled disinformation during 2024 campaign | Tonya Riley/CyberScoop

Secretaries of State are bracing themselves for election disinformation campaigns during the 2024 presidential race that are expected to be amplified by artificial intelligence (AI), according to discussions at the National Association of Secretaries of State Conference. They anticipate the spread of deepfakes and other AI-generated content designed to deceive voters. Several states are enacting laws to require the disclosure of deepfakes in political ads, while others believe social media companies should assume more responsibility for AI-generated content. Educating voters and providing transparency in the election process are key priorities for officials in countering disinformation. Read Article

National: Disinformation Researchers Fret About Fallout From Judge’s Order | Tiffany Hsu and Stuart A. Thompson/The New York Times

A federal judge’s ruling that restricts the government’s communication with social media platforms could hinder efforts to curb harmful content, according to researchers and groups combating hate speech and disinformation. The ruling, which followed lawsuits accusing Facebook and Twitter of censoring right-leaning content, prevents government agencies from urging the removal of protected free speech. Researchers argue that the government should be able to inform social media companies about harmful content without coercing them to remove it, and they expressed concerns about a potential chilling effect on disinformation research and the ability to combat misinformation before the 2024 election. Read Article

National: Social media injunction unravels plans to protect 2024 elections | Cat Zakrzewski , Naomi Nix and Joseph Menn/The Washington Post

Last week’s court injunction limiting government communication with tech companies is undermining efforts to combat election interference, with reduced content moderation, decreased research on disinformation, and a pause in government communications with Silicon Valley. The ruling comes as tech companies face new threats from AI-generated fake content and civil rights groups warn of increased election lies. The injunction highlights the ongoing partisan battle over social media rules, hindering academic research and impacting conversations among tech companies about disinformation. The focus on government communication overlooks tech companies’ moderation shortcomings, while the release of new products further challenges the ability to adapt to evolving threats. Read Article

National: Republicans’ conservative election bill heads to House floor | Justin Papp/Roll Call

The House Administration Committee voted 8-4 to advance the American Confidence in Elections Act, a conservative election package, despite strong opposition from Democrats. Democrats argue that the bill seeks to disenfranchise voters of color, protect wealthy donors, and undermine the self-governance of Washington, D.C. The bill includes measures such as urging states to adopt voter ID requirements, overriding certain D.C. election laws, prohibiting federal funds to states allowing noncitizen voting or ballot harvesting, and restricting federal agencies from accessing conservative nonprofits. Only one Democratic amendment was approved out of nearly 50, while the Democratic alternative bill failed to pass. The fate of the bill is uncertain in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Read Article

National: CISA director and USDS administrator among federal officials barred from contacting social media companies | Nihal Krishan/FedScoop