News Clips

“This is not just some kind of organic, grassroots effort. It's a much more … deliberative, pernicious effort by big business,” said Aaron Scherb, the senior director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, a national watchdog group.

“I’m thrilled to see it,” said Heather Ferguson, a Kansan who is director of operations for the government transparency group Common Cause. “It helps to rebuild some of the trust with the public in their elected officials and in their institutions and in the legislative process in general.” In some offices and hallways under the Kansas Statehouse’s copper dome, the response to the new practice has been less enthusiastic than Ferguson’s reaction, though lobbyists won’t publicly criticize it. Eric Stafford, who lobbies for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, said he doesn’t care, “as long as it’s consistent.”

Election integrity group Common Cause pointed out in a post on X that the picture wasn’t actually showing a voting machine but rather what's called an “emergency drawer.” “It is a locked, secure ballot receptacle to store and scan ballots ensuring they're included in the polling place's count at the end of the day,” the group explained.

Aly Belknap with Colorado Common Cause echoed Holman’s concerns, highlighting the pervasiveness of deepfakes and other avenues for spreading “disinformation,” such as fake social media profiles. These issues, she said, combined with declining trust in the media among Americans, pose a threat to the future of fair elections. “The availability of generative AI tools makes it easier than ever to spread false information and propaganda with little resources and at a large scale, leaving voters confused and further questioning what they see or hear,” she said. “We can’t let generative AI go unchecked in political campaigns. In this increasingly complex information ecosystem, it’s critical that citizens have the tools to determine whether an image, video, or audio representation made by a candidate campaign is authentic and truthful.”

Sean McMorris, transparency, ethics and accountability program manager for California Common Cause, said super PACs are likely spending more in this race because it's an open seat. McMorris added that even if there's no coordination between candidates and the super PACs, these groups support candidates who they think would best protect the groups' interests. "It sends a strong message," McMorris told San Jose Spotlight. "They're hoping in one way or another that the candidate feels some type of obligation toward them once they're in office and with that obligation, that opens doors potentially for them to get access and influence over the candidate once they're actually seated." McMorris said looking at a super PAC's donors lets voters see which special interests support certain candidates. "At a minimum, they don't want to make any enemies," McMorris said. "All these special interests are fighting to get the person who -- out of all those candidates -- is going to be the most beneficial to them."

Andrew Barton of Colorado Common Cause, who supports the measure, said his organization has conducted an independent analysis of social media posts and that the study revealed an increasing prevalence of "misinformation" about candidates for office, election processes, and the validity of the country's voting system. "Our democratic institutions only work when we can all engage with them accurately and honestly," Barton said. "Because of the threat of misinformation and disinformation, it's imperative that data around how such information is spread through online media sources can be gathered and examined so the legislature can develop data-driven solutions that help build understanding and trust within our political systems."