I'm attending the @ncslorg.bsky.social Town Hall: 2025 Post-Election Recap and Insights. Join me on November 7. www.linkedin.com/events/ncslt...

Bomb threats at polling places in New Jersey today follow a troubling pattern. Election officials are now seeing coordinated threats not just in federal election years, but in off-year local elections too. This is becoming a consistent tactic to disrupt voting and intimidate election workers.

On the ballot today: -NYC: Mayor -Minneapolis: Mayor -VA: Governor, Lt. Governor, AG, and state House -NJ: Governor -PA: State Supreme Court -GA: Public Service Commission -TX: TX-18 U.S. House -CA: Prop 50 This is a reminder of how crucial it is to vote up AND down the ballot.

LIVE THRED: The Senate is holding Sean Plankey’s nomination hearing to lead CISA right now.Lawmakers must demand answers on why CISA is scaling back even as cyber and physical threats to elections surge. My @cdt.org blog on the key questions for Plankey's hearing: cdt.org/insights/cis...

In this testimony on a CT deepfakes law, @beccabranum.bsky.social reminds us that some of the efforts to limit AI election risks introduce new threats to democracy, like limiting political speech and engagement cdt.org/insights/cdt...

The AI Elections Accord ended earlier this year. @alexreevegivens.bsky.social outlined in @justsecurity.org how companies should build a long-term approach to AI & elections www.justsecurity.org/107809/tech-...

Blog from @tharper.bsky.social discussing cuts to CISA and its serious implications for election security: cdt.org/insights/wit... + a follow up from earlier this month: cdt.org/insights/cis...

Read our @cdt.org research about the use of AI in 2024's elections globally. The third case study uses interviews with 15 experts researching AI & elections to evaluate the impact of AI on elections so far, and how that should inform future work cdt.org/insights/ada...

Really important to keep our eye on the ball with AI & elections, even between cycles and especially as CISA is gutted. @stuartathompson.bsky.social + @stevenleemyers.bsky.social do that here. Recent related research from my @cdt.org colleagues below🧵 www.nytimes.com/2025/06/26/t...

A great Friday read by my @cdt.org colleague @isabelalinzer.bsky.social laying out how global civil society groups leveraged AI to combat AI threats in 2024

CDT’s @isabelalinzer.bsky.social explores the murky legal and policy landscape surrounding political influencers—from campaign finance and FTC rules to platform enforcement gaps. With no clear definitions, transparency and accountability can suffer. cdt.org/insights/thi...

This is an excellent, well-researched and sourced piece about the real-world consequences of eradicating DHS' election security expertise, from @sashaingber.bsky.social. Vendors and others no longer trust the administration not to misuse sensitive info. sashaingber.substack.com/p/election-c...

Since Citizens United, dark money groups have spent at least $4.3 billion on federal elections. Our latest analysis from @annalecta.bsky.social tracks dark money spending in the 2024 election cycle.

“Jefferson Griffin concedes North Carolina Supreme Court race” electionlawblog.org?p=149808

As CISA's Stakeholder Engagement Division braces for big cuts, an official in SED says more than 60 employees are resigning, including >50% of those who work on international partnerships (one of the offices Trump's budget would cut). www.linkedin.com/posts/gregor... (h/t @samsabin.bsky.social )

Breaking and Analysis: Federal Court–in a Ruling Likely to Be Upheld on Appeal– Holds That Judge Griffin’s Attempt to Overturn the Results of the North Carolina Supreme Court Election Violates the Constitutional Rights of Voters and Orders Certification for Justice Riggs electionlawblog.org?p=149785

Exclusive: Trump plans to sign a memorandum today targeting a major Democratic fundraising platform with help from AG Pam Bondi.

My latest @npr.org story: A brain drain at the Census Bureau is roiling the federal agency in charge of producing #2030Census results, job numbers and other key statistics as the Trump administration continues to slash the federal government

Scoop: Boyden Rohner, Assistant Director of CISA's Integrated Operations Division, is taking the Trump administration's early-retirement offer and leaving. Rohner told IOD staff during a Monday afternoon town-hall meeting that featured a lot of employee questions & anxiety about looming CISA cuts.

SCOOP: sources tell me that the State Dept plans to eliminate its only office to counter foreign disinformation, as soon as today, delivering a win to foreign governments like Russia, Iran, and China—and the office's mostly conservative critics. www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/16/1...

Next week, are you in town for the Meta antitrust trial, the Google Search Remedy trial, or the IAPP privacy conference? Lucky you, all the DC tech policy peeps will be gathered Tues eve at CDT Spring Fling - join us! cdt.org/event/2025-s...

The cyber team inside DHS's Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans will be cut from 20-25 to 8 by June as part of DHS HQ's massive downsizing, per a person familiar with the matter.

Breaking: North Carolina Appeals Court, Over Strong Dissent, Sides with Judge Griffin in Election Contest, Gives Some Voters Chance to Cure Failure to Provide Certain Information to Election Officials (That Officials Did Not Demand) electionlawblog.org?p=149314

Bombshell in North Carolina: the state's GOP-dominated Court of Appeals just sided with the GOP candidate in last year's supreme court race. Their decision would toss roughly 60,000 ballots (!) that have been counted, & likely hand the election to GOP instead of incumbent Dem Justice who won it.

Breaking WaPo: Members of Trump's National Security Council, including national security adviser Michael Waltz, have conducted government business over personal Gmail accounts, according to documents reviewed by WaPo and interviews with three U.S. officials. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Heading into Election Day, 674K people already voted in Wisconsin. That's more than a third of last supreme court race. So: 1. Dane & Milwaukee counties make up 31.8% of this electorate. That compares to 28.5% at the equivalent point in November 2024, & 33.4% at equivalent point in April 2023.

The direct application of political censorship claims to foreign-but-politically-aligned messages has become the preferred escalation to justify eliminating work to counter foreign influence. A great thread by @noupside.bsky.social tracking this HFAC hearing

WHO in AZ will need to prove their citizenship before voting again? It's in the story but... - First got your AZ driver's license before 1996 - AND registered to vote in AZ at some point after 2004, including after any moves across county lines within the state. Pass it on.

CASE STUDIES: AI amplified information integrity challenges during elections in 2024. CDT’s new report examines how civic actors in Mexico, Taiwan, and beyond adapted—tracking deepfakes, using AI for fact-checking, and countering disinformation. cdt.org/insights/ada...

Last week, the White House issued an executive order which makes it the policy of the United States to “streamline” its preparedness for cyberattacks on critical infrastructure like elections while devolving responsibility to "State, local, and even individual levels." Here we go. 🧵👇

CDT’s @tharper.bsky.social: “The EI-ISAC and the MS-ISAC provide real-time threat-sharing and response coordination that election offices can’t replicate by themselves. Losing that coordination leaves towns and counties to fight nation-state hackers on their own.” www.theregister.com/...

Scoop: CISA is reinstating fired probationary employees tomorrow following a judge's ruling in a federal lawsuit (storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...), according to an email to affected employees that I obtained. Starting tomorrow, those employees will be placed on administrative leave.

What’s happening at CISA & w/the destruction of the ISACs is the next phase of what Quinta & I described here in the context of dismantling capacity for tackling foreign interference: “state capacity is now determined in response to conspiracy theories on X” www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...

New research alert!🚨 Pleased to share a new @cendemtech.bsky.social report on information resilience in the context of AI and elections. For me it answers the question of whether AI matters for elections with a clear “yes” - though not always in the way you’d expect🧵 cdt.org/insights/ada...

NEW: CISA employees are scared, angry, and worried about how Trump's cuts and policies are weakening their agency. Partnerships are strained, leadership is bowing to Trump, and layoffs & other departures have left worrisome gaps. My @wired.com story: www.wired.com/story/inside...

#CISA is still refusing to come clean on the results of its election security review. As I say in this @newyorker.com piece, keeping election officials in the dark only helps bad actors. But new information is emerging and a picture is taking shape. Let’s talk about it: 🧵👇 bsky.app/profile/newy...

As I say in this @cyberscoop.bsky.social piece, the lack of transparency from CISA means election offices don’t know what federal support they can count on, leaving them exposed to cyberattacks & threats of violence. You can’t defend democracy in the dark—CISA needs to come clean about its decision.

🚨NEW🚨: CISA’s election security review ends tomorrow. If the Agency is serious about its core mission, it must continue its core cybersecurity, physical security & foreign threat intel sharing work to protect critical elections infrastructure.🧵 cdt.org/insights/wit... #CISA @cendemtech.bsky.social

Just in: Maricopa County supervisors vote unanimously to spend up to $480K on an election audit. Two independent reviews, to be commissioned through RFPs: 80K - election technology 400K - election processes Recorder's Office will participate, along with Elections Department.

SCOOP: Karen Evans now holds one of the most prominent cyber jobs in the federal government, and she has been named the executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA @timstarks.bsky.social with the story cyberscoop.com/karen-evans-...

This is what bipartisan leadership looks like! The National Association of Secretaries of State on Friday urged DHS Sec. Noem to maintain services that help election officials defend U.S. elections from physical and cyber threats by foreign actors. www.nass.org/sites/defaul...

CISA’s crucial work defends against foreign malign influence in US elections. Weakening this agency does nothing to protect Americans’ free speech or national security. It will only make easier for foreign governments to disrupt and undermine our #elections in the future. #CISA

“Meagan Wolfe can stay on as Wisconsin’s top election official, state Supreme Court rules” electionlawblog.org?p=148522

🧵My statement in response to Trump illegally attempting to fire Federal Election Commission (FEC) Chair Ellen Weintraub: In claiming to fire a commissioner of the Federal Election Commission, the president violates the law, the separation of powers and generations of Supreme Court precedent. 1/

Received a letter from POTUS today purporting to remove me as Commissioner and Chair of the FEC. There's a legal way to replace FEC commissioners-this isn't it. I've been so fortunate to serve the American people and stir up some good trouble along the way. That's not changing anytime soon.

🇰🇪🔎 AI-powered disinfo in Kenya? As protests erupted in summer 2024 against a controversial finance bill, a network of accounts flooded X with pro-gov narratives. Who’s behind it? A marketing firm that hires influencers to shape online narratives. Read more 👇 bit.ly/4hKVtNn

Media: Experts who study democratic erosion in other countries like @annagbusse.bsky.social and @kimlanelaw.bsky.social are deeply alarmed. The attack on democracy and the rule of law is happening right now. Endless stories out there from tariffs to plane crashes, but you can't miss what's happening