Election Tech

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.

The Pulaski County Clerk’s Office will go live this week with a new mobile text alert system, TextMyGov, to send important election notifications to residents. The aim is to provide up-to-the-minute voting information.

A new report from the Center for Democracy and Technology examines ways in which AI-powered chatbots may negatively impact voter confidence this election season, for people with disabilities.

These days, the Internet is rife with AI-generated images of fake celebrity endorsements and Facebook-spawned misinformation accusing immigrants in an Ohio town of eating their neighbors’ pets.

An auditing proposal once on hold is moving forward, officials said, and a new contract will enable them to scan ballots cast with text-recognition software. Training and preparations for a post-election audit are underway.

Officials in the consolidated city-county of Butte-Silver Bow are investigating issues that led to a recount after the June 4 primary. Computer software safeguards are among potential corrective measures, the county clerk and recorder said.

The New Hampshire Secretary of State said officials found and had a forensic expert take out a Ukrainian anthem alert that had been inserted into a voter registration database in development. The project went live in April, months later.

Burlington County, N.J., election officials are providing voters with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the county’s new voting machines prior to the 2024 general election.

The Cyber Navigator Internship Program, led by the University of Virginia, connects students at several schools with local governments. Established in 2021, it helps election offices strengthen their cybersecurity.

The exercise is an effort by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to reassure voters that voting computers can be trusted, along with upcoming testing to ensure they’re faithfully recording votes.

In Broward and Palm Beach counties and elsewhere, the sheer number of visitors to county elections websites delayed results reporting. Actual tabulation of ballots, which is not done online, was unaffected.

Clark County, home to 70 percent of Nevada voters, implemented the centralized system last year, but on Saturday, the state’s remaining counties were added. Nevada now has one database for voter registration information statewide.

Officials in Ottawa County are beefing up their elections results web page before the Nov. 5 general election, after a large number of visitors sent it offline for more than an hour during the Aug. 6 primary.

A retest Tuesday of Laramie County machines used to count absentee and recount ballots wrapped with no errors. A lawsuit from the Wyoming Republican Party was among the factors leading to the new test.

The Wyoming Republican Party filed a lawsuit Thursday against Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee over a flawed voting machine test that was performed earlier this week.

Midland County, Mich., residents looking to track primary election results this week will need to head to a new website as the county has made the switch to Enhanced Voting.