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Election Integrity

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Media & Democracy 02.8.2024

FCC Outlaws AI Robocalls

Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously voted to outlaw robocalls that utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI) voice-cloning tools. Long a matter of concern, the issue made national headlines when the technology was utilized to mimic President Biden’s voice in robocalls in the runup to the New Hampshire primary. Those calls are currently under investigation by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office. The FCC ban is effective immediately.

Voting & Elections 02.6.2024

Maryland Matters (Op-Ed): Election officials are under assault. Here’s how to protect and support them.

We should all be able to go to work each morning without the fear that we won’t make it home to our loved ones. But our election workers don’t have that security right now, and it is our collective responsibility to change that.

Yahoo! News/The Hill: Lobbying World

Virginia Kase Solomón will be the next president and CEO of Common Cause. Currently CEO of the League of Women Voters, she will start her new role in February and will be the first Hispanic person to lead the democratic watchdog. She succeeds Karen Hobert Flynn, who died this spring after three decades with the organization.

Voting & Elections 12.10.2023

Daily Beast: ‘Absurd’: As 2024 Looms, Counties Won’t Update Voting Tech

Emma Steiner, Information Accountability Project manager at the watchdog group Common Cause, said the Albert plays a role in a broader far-right conspiracy theory about “the role of connection to the internet at polling places.” “It’s all part of this broader narrative that election workers are conspiring against voters, and that voting machines cannot be trusted,” Steiner noted. In actuality, the sensors are passive devices that listen for known intrusions on a county’s internet network, said Susannah Goodman, director of election security at Common Cause. “Elections weren’t declared critical infrastructure until 2017. To us, Albert sensors were a step in the right direction. They won’t stop an attack from happening, but they’ll tell you that bad actors are circling,” Goodman said, likening the sensor to an alarm system. “I thought it was too passive when I first heard about it.” While watchdogs like Goodman describe the Albert as a useful tool for monitoring and sharing threats, conspiracy theories caught the ear of Republicans in Ferry County, where the GOP chair authored a memo casting suspicion on the devices, the CIS, and a CIS co-founder’s work for Democratic presidential administrations.

Voting & Elections 11.10.2023

The Hill (Op-Ed): Internet voting remains a risky method of casting election ballots

Unfortunately, online voting is not yet a secure method of casting a ballot. The risks are many. Malware on a voter’s personal device could alter a voter’s selections or replace ballot images with fakes. Experts have noted that “Consumer-grade devices with consumer-grade protections are no match for a motivated attacker, particularly if the attacker is a nation-state.” Targeted denial of service attacks could disenfranchise thousands of voters and alter election outcomes.  Voter authentication credentials could be stolen. The list goes on. 

Voting & Elections 09.27.2023

CT Insider: CT's absentee ballot boxes are under fire amid Bridgeport investigation. Here's what to know

Cheri Quickmire, executive director of Connecticut's chapter of Common Cause, an advocacy group focused on accountable government, says the investigation in Bridgeport isn't a reason to restrict or remove absentee ballot drop boxes. "This does not demonstrate a problem with the boxes," Quickmire said. "It demonstrates a problem with the local officials in Bridgeport." In Quickmire's view, the boxes "absolutely are successful at giving voters an alternative way to submit their ballot." Quickmire said there is "absolutely not" evidence of widespread voter fraud in Connecticut, involving drop boxes or otherwise. "People can be assured that casting their ballots is safe and secure," she said. "There are very few examples of where this is a problem."

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