National: Republicans’ non-citizen voting myth sets stage to claim stolen election | Rachel Leingang and Sam Levine/The Guardian

James Cozadd, a 49-year-old plumber born in Montgomery, Alabama, has no idea why he got a letter from Alabama’s top election official telling him he was potentially ineligible to vote. He was born in the US, yet the letter said he was suspected of being a non-citizen and he would have to prove his citizenship to vote. “I’ve been racking my brain to try to figure out how I ended up on the list of purged voters, but I have no clue,” Cozadd said in a court filing in September. He was one of more than 3,200 voters the secretary of state asked to prove their citizenship – part of a wave of actions amid heated rhetoric among Republicans over the idea that non-citizens could be voting in large numbers in US elections, a theory that runs counter to data. Read Article

Opinion: Trump election interference trial: Jack Smith’s big new Jan. 6 brief is a major indictment of the Supreme Court | Richard L. Hasen/Slate

It’s rare to simultaneously feel red-hot anger and wistfulness, especially when merely reading a document. But those are exactly the emotions that washed over me when I read the redacted version of special counsel Jack Smith’s brief reciting in detail the evidence against Donald Trump for attempting to subvert the 2020 election. The anger is at the Supreme Court for depriving the American people of the chance for a full public airing of Donald Trump’s attempt to use fraud and trickery to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory before voters consider whether to put Trump back in office beginning January 2025. The wistfulness comes with the recognition that there is about an even chance that this will be the last evidence produced by the federal government of this nefarious plot. If Donald Trump wins election next month, the end of this prosecution is certain and the risks of future election subversion heightened. Read Article

Arizona can force counties to certify November results, despite federal court ruling | Jen Fifield/Votebeat

A federal judge has blocked an Arizona rule aimed at enforcing timely finalizing of election results, ruling that the state can’t simply exclude a county’s results if local officials there refuse to certify them, and noting the various legal alternatives that should make the rule unnecessary. Secretary of State Adrian Fontes had added the rule to the state’s most recent Election Procedures Manual, giving the secretary the power to move forward with the statewide certification without a county’s results. Read Article

Arkansas election board to sanction county officials over issues with hand-counted ballots | Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate

The State Board of Election Commissioners on Wednesday voted to sanction election officials in one Arkansas county where several hand-counted ballot mistakes occurred during the primary election. Commissioners did not explicitly state which county’s board of election commissioners would receive the sanctions; however, only officials in Searcy County hand-counted ballots in March. The investigation into the county that hand-counted ballots was among six that the SBEC considered at its meeting, all of which were discussed with some confidentiality. Reports remain private until 30 days after county officials accept the sanction, or deny it and prompt a public hearing. Read Article

California: Judge blocks law that targeted deepfake campaign ads | Jon Healey/Los Angeles Times

With deepfake video and audio making their way into political campaigns, California enacted its toughest restrictions yet in September: a law prohibiting political ads within 120 days of an election that include deceptive, digitally generated or altered content unless the ads are labeled as “manipulated.” On Wednesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the law, saying it violated the 1st Amendment. Other laws against deceptive campaign ads remain on the books in California, including one that requires candidates and political action committees to disclose when ads are using artificial intelligence to create or substantially alter content. But the preliminary injunction granted against Assembly Bill 2839 means that there will be no broad prohibition against individuals using artificial intelligence to clone a candidate’s image or voice and portraying them falsely without revealing that the images or words are fake. Read Article

Georgia Republicans sow doubt about Dominion voting machines in 2020 throwback | Zachary Cohen/CNN

Just weeks before early voting begins in Georgia, Republican Party officials and Donald Trump allies are trying to preemptively sow doubt about the viability of Dominion systems used across the key swing state, arguing in court that the machines should not be used because they are not safe or secure. In a replay of 2020 tactics, Republicans have continued to claim without proof that Dominion voting systems were exploited in previous elections, resulting in mass manipulation and vote-flipping by a nefarious actor. And GOP officials in DeKalb County in Georgia, aided by a familiar cast of pro-Trump lawyers, have signaled they are planning to once again question the 2024 election results if Trump loses. Read Article

Georgia election boards must certify the state’s election results despite new rules, judge says | Mark Niesse and David Wickert/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In two preelection trials Tuesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said state law requires county election boards to certify results one week after Election Day. Republicans who raised the question agreed that certification is mandatory — but with an important caveat. They said individual board members had the right to vote “no” and a majority of members could decide to exclude precincts from certification if they suspected fraud or irregularities. McBurney didn’t immediately issue rulings after the Republican-controlled State Election Board recently approved a rule calling for an undefined “reasonable inquiry” before certification on Nov. 12. Read Article

Montana: Indigenous voting rights dispute in Montana surfaces before 2024 election | Tom Lutey/Montana Free Press

Fort Peck tribal members are suing Valley County seeking satellite voting locations, arguing that Indigenous voters have poor access to the polls. Attorneys for the tribal voters say the absence of satellite voting locations in Frazer and Poplar violates the rights of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux tribes. Voters must drive 23 miles one way to vote in person and receive basic voter assistance available off the reservation. The reservation straddles Valley and Roosevelt counties. The tribes have asked both to improve voting access for tribal members in this year’s election. Read Article

North Carolina: Hurricane Helene upends election planning in some parts of state | Steve Harrison/NPR

North Carolina election officials said Tuesday that early voting would start as planned on Oct. 17, including in counties that were devastated by flooding from Hurricane Helene. But they don’t know how many early voting sites and Election Day polling places might be unusable in the swing state because of the storm. “There may be polling places impacted by mudslides, there may be polling places inaccessible because of damaged roads, and there may be polling places with trees that have fallen on them,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections. North Carolina is still trying to assess the damage from Helene, which caused massive flooding in the mountainous western part of the state. Read Article

Pennsylvania mail ballot dating issue may be bound for U.S. Supreme Court | Carter Walker/Votebeat

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether requiring voters to date their mail ballot return envelopes violates federal law. The group filed its petition Friday on behalf of the Pennsylvania branch of the NAACP. It follows a separate request from voting rights groups this week to Pennsylvania’s highest court for an expedited ruling on the date requirement. “The right to vote is one of the most important in this country,” said Janette Wallace, general counsel of the NAACP. “Ballots should not be rejected because of irrelevant errors. We will continue to fight so that voters’ voices may be heard. That’s why we’re taking this to the Supreme Court.” Read Article

Texas’ vote harvesting law is unconstitutional, judge says | Xiomara Moore/The Texas Tribune

A federal judge ruled on Saturday that part of a Texas law that enacted new voting restrictions violated the U.S. Constitution by being too vague and restricting free speech. The ruling, made by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, immediately halted the state’s ability to investigate alleged cases of vote harvesting, such as the investigation into the League of United Latin American Citizens by Attorney General Ken Paxton. Before today’s ruling, a person who knowingly provided or offered vote harvesting services in exchange for compensation was committing a third-degree felony. This meant that organizers of voter outreach organizations and even volunteers could spend up to ten years in prison and fined up to $10,000 for giving or offering these services. Read Article

Wisconsin Supreme Court rules that RFK Jr. must stay on November ballot | Alexander Shur/Votebeat

The Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to have his name removed as an independent presidential candidate from the November ballot or covered with stickers, a relief for local clerks. The court on Friday upheld a decision by the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission to keep Kennedy — who dropped out on Aug. 23 and endorsed former President Donald Trump — on the ballot despite his request to drop out. The commission cited a law saying qualified nominees can only get off the ballot if they die. “It’s good to have that done so we could focus more on the election,” Waukesha County Clerk Meg Wartman, a Republican, said about the case. She said around 40,000 ballots had already gone out in the county, and some had already been returned. Read Article

National: To combat voter fraud claims, election officials try radical transparency | Yvonne Wingett Sanchez/The Washington Post

In this conservative bedroom community of Phoenix, where Donald Trump remains popular and his 2020 loss is viewed with suspicion, election falsehoods don’t fizzle. They fester and grow. So as Pinal County officials prepare for another election with the former president on the ballot, they are trying to combat that distrust with radical transparency. “When you know in your soul there is nothing to hide, being open about the process is a no-brainer,” said Pinal County Recorder Dana Lewis (R), who helps oversee elections. “Even when you pull the curtain back, there are still people who lurk in the shadows, but we are going to continue to try with logic, accuracy and reason to combat the narrative of distrust in the elections process.” Read Article

National: Little-noticed statehouse races could reshape election policies next year | Carrie Levine/Votebeat

Americans agree the fate of democracy rests on the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, even if they don’t agree on what that outcome should be. But they may be too focused on the top of the ticket. A small number of lower-profile state legislative races in districts around the country could shift partisan control of legislative chambers in several key swing states next year, potentially allowing state lawmakers to reshape how elections are run. “What’s really going to impact most voters when it comes to how they experience their elections — the timing of their elections, when ballots are counted, how things are processed, security and infrastructure changes — that’s all happening at the state level,” said Megan Boler Bellamy, vice president of law and policy at Voting Rights Lab, a nonprofit group that monitors state legislation on voting and elections.fit group that monitors state legislation on voting and elections. Read Article

National: Election experts raise alarms about vote counting delays in battleground states | Fredreka Schouten and Sara Murray/CNN

In Pennsylvania, officials are bracing for another presidential election in which the state could once again be the decisive battleground and take days to determine the winner. Seth Bluestein, a Republican city commissioner in vote-rich Philadelphia, put the odds of knowing the winner on election night at “almost zero.” In battleground Wisconsin, meanwhile, a final tally isn’t likely until the morning after the election, said Ann Jacobs, a Democrat who chairs the state’s election commission. Election observers worry that delays in counting mail ballots could give the public a false sense of who’s winning the election. That could create a potential “red mirage” – showing GOP candidates ahead initially before more Democratic-leaning absentee ballots are processed and added to the tally – and leave an opening for false narratives about election fraud to flourish as the country awaits results. Read Article

National: Several states are making late changes to election rules, even as voting is set to begin | Ali Swenson/Associated Press

In Georgia, election workers will have to hand count the number of ballots cast after voting is completed. In North Carolina, some students and university staff can use their digital IDs to vote. In Wisconsin, ballot drop boxes are newly legal again, although not every voting jurisdiction will use them. Across the country, including in some of the nation’s presidential swing states, new or recently altered state laws are changing how Americans will vote, tally ballots, and administer and certify November’s election. It can be a challenge to keep track of these 11th-hour changes, especially since state election processes already vary so widely. Even more changes are looming in some states, with Election Day on Nov. 5 now just weeks away. Several states already have started sending out mail ballots, and in some states, voters have begun casting ballots in person. Read Article

National: The R.N.C. Asked a Conspiracy Theorist to Train Poll Watchers. Here’s What He Told Them. | Alexandra Berzon/The New York Times

A few years ago, Jack Posobiec was a fringe figure and a right-wing agitator best known for helping spread “Pizzagate,” a conspiracy theory about Democrats running a satanic child abuse ring underneath a Washington pizza parlor. This month, he was invited by the Republican National Committee to speak to a group of volunteers about how to monitor elections in Michigan. The invitation was one sign of how the party uses figures and fictions that were once considered out of bounds to energize its activists. The counsel that Mr. Posobiec delivered was another. He blasted elections in the Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia, for example, joking that officials in Venezuela learned how to conduct their elections, widely seen as corrupt, by visiting the city and studying how it is done, according to a recording of the Sept. 4 meeting. Read Article

National: Overseas voters are the latest target in Trump’s false narrative on election fraud | Melissa Goldin/Associated Press

Donald Trump this week claimed without evidence that anyone living overseas can get a ballot mailed to them, even if they are not eligible to vote, falsely accusing Democrats of subverting a 1986 law to win in November. The former Republican president’s allegation focuses on the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, or UOCAVA, which protects the rights of U.S. citizens living abroad, including members of the military and their families, to vote in federal elections by absentee ballot. “In over 25 years of working in elections, in both Republican and Democratic administrations, and with election officials of both parties, I don’t recall any of them, or any elected leader from either party, ever denigrating this important program, until Trump’s false claims this week,” said David Becker, the founder and executive director of The Center for Election Innovation and Research. Pamela Smith, president and CEO of Verified Voting, agreed that “ensuring these voters can vote has never been controversial. I should say, never before.” Read Article

National: Newsmax and Smartmatic Settle Defamation Case Over 2020 Election | Katie Robertson/The New York Times

Smartmatic on Thursday settled its defamation lawsuit against Newsmax, the right-wing cable news channel that had spread false claims of election fraud, the companies said. The details of the settlement, reached as the jury was being selected before the trial, were not immediately disclosed. Smartmatic, an election technology company, had accused Newsmax of trying to entice viewers from its rival, Fox News, by airing false reports that Smartmatic helped swing the 2020 election for Joe Biden The lawsuit was filed in Delaware Superior Court in 2021. Read Article

National: Lawmakers’ concerns about mail ballots are fueled by other issues with mail service | John Hanna/Associated Press

Lawmakers said during a contentious congressional hearing Thursday they are uneasy about the U.S. Postal Service’s readiness for a crush of mail ballots for the November election because some of them feel burned by other Postal Service actions. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy sought to reassure a House Appropriations subcommittee that the Postal Service is well-positioned for an extraordinary effort to deliver mail ballots to election officials on time to be counted and that close to 100% will make it promptly. In recent weeks, DeJoy has pushed back on suggestions from state and local election officials that the Postal Service has not addressed problems that led to mail ballots arriving too late or without postmarks, disenfranchising those voters. Read Article

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