Tag Archives: Election Interference

“A.I. Is Starting to Wear Down Democracy”

campaigns, cheap speech, ,

That’s the headline in the NYT, and the second exaggerated NYT headline I’ve flagged today.  I don’t know that the article actually delivers what the headline promises (and headlines are usually not, as I understand it, written by the reporters themselves, which continues to strike me as a disservice to the reporters in situations like these). 

But if you skip the headline and read the piece itself, you’ll find a really useful catalog of some of the ways in which AI has been used in recent elections, with embedded multimedia examples.

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“Mayor, two other former local officials indicted in south Georgia for election interference in municipal races last year”

chicanery, election administration, residency, ,

On the same day as the 2024 general election (which was run by the county), municipal elections were scheduled in Camilla, Georgia.  There was a firestorm with notable racial overtones about the eligibility of a former city councilmember, who had resigned after a court found that he was not a resident of the city and could not be on the 2024 ballot.  (Appellate decision here; more coverage here.)  The elections supervisor apparently refused to remove the former councilmember from the ballot; both she and her deputy resigned the night before the election.   

Apparently under the advice of the city attorney and guidance from the Secretary of State’s Office, the city council voted “not to proceed with the election to avoid incurring a fine due to the absence of a certified Election Superintendent” – and the mayor allegedly instructed the city’s police chief to post officers outside polling places for the municipal election preventing people from entering.

And now the elections supervisor, her deputy, and the mayor have been indicted by a county grand jury for interfering with an election.

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“Georgia requires police training on election intimidation and interference”

election subversion risk

The AJC says that this makes Georgia the first state in the country to train police in protections against election threats as part of the basic statewide training.

Police response to alleged incidents of interference has to be reeeeeeeeeeeeally carefully calibrated, and grounded in the affected community, to be effective.  (To wit: some pushback on recent guidance in Indiana.)

But if done right, training can help de-escalate situations with the potential to get a lot worse.

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“Trump Asks Appeals Court to Toss Election Case on Immunity Grounds”

Uncategorized,

Opening brief from WaPo here. 

NYT:

Lawyers for former President Donald J. Trump asked an appeals court in Washington on Saturday night to toss a federal indictment accusing him of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, arguing that he was immune to the charges because they arose from actions he had taken while he was in the White House.

The weekend filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was the latest salvo in a long-running and crucial battle between Mr. Trump and the special counsel, Jack Smith, over whether the former president enjoys immunity to the election interference charges.

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