Election Tech

Somerset County is expected to use a new electronic poll book process during this year’s general election in November after county commissioners voted unanimously to purchase an ExpressPoll system.

State officials have hired Civix to provide new software, updating its voter registration database and election management system. Its current solution is more than 20 years old, and is now used only by Pennsylvania.

Cuts to CISA and the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force have secretaries of state and municipal clerks worried about the security of voter registration databases and other critical election systems.

The Texas county’s commissioners court approved a contract for 4,500 poll pad devices, plus licensing and support services for two years. The pollbooks will replace devices that malfunctioned during the Nov. 5 election.

With the clock ticking on a municipal election, Dallas County officials are moving to ensure electronic poll book software functions as intended. Less than four months remain to resolve a malfunction from last year.

Among its allocations of federal American Rescue Plan Act monies, Northampton County has committed around $20.6 million for uses including broadband deployment, and $1.6 million for election security.

The state has committed to replacing its current campaign finance reporting system with a solution that may be easier to use than its current one. Like the old system, the new one will enable disclosure of campaign contributions and related details.

The audit, the first of its kind, demonstrated a nearly identical match to the count done on election night, using tech to read the text on all 5.3 million Georgia ballots. Nearly all inconsistencies were caused by unclear marks on absentee ballots that required human review.

Experts at a Congressional Internet Caucus Academy briefing this week explored the role artificial intelligence played in the 2024 election, and the ways policy helped to reduce its negative impacts.

The director of the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency cautioned Monday this election cycle has seen an “unprecedented amount” of false information. That includes content from foreign adversaries designed to undermine the nation’s democracy.

A new language translation solution in Athens-Clarke County, Ga., aims to expand voter access and turnout by residents with limited English proficiency. Ensuring everyone can participate is vital, the county elections director said.

Mailers in the Golden State reading “Who you vote for is private, but whether you vote is public record” are intended to get out the vote but could intimidate, an expert said. Maryland and Virginia residents have reportedly received similar fliers.

The rise of artificial intelligence, deepfakes and coordinated disinformation campaigns have not pushed us past a point of no return, Conn. Attorney General William Tong said. But they have “definitely changed the way elections are going to run,” the official said.

After intermittent problems, elections websites in Florida counties appear to once again be operating as expected. Issues popped up in Broward County and in Palm Beach County too, where an official noted they had nothing to do with systems connected to actual voting and tabulation.

Officials will use electronic pollbooks to speed up how they identify and sign in voters during early voting, when any location can be used, but ballots must still belong to their precinct. The tablets are not connected to the Internet.

Wednesday afternoon events at Colorado State University's Northeast Colorado Engagement Center in Sterling will explain how recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence can empower bad actors to deceive voters.

As Nov. 5 approaches, we asked state CIOs what role they play in keeping elections fair, valid and cyber-safe.

Its secretary of state said Washington has not yet seen any notable deepfakes used to influence an election. But the northwestern state is preparing for such a scenario, including with exercises on combating bad actors.