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Welcome to the April edition of The Lever — reaching you as spring blooms. Our democracy is strongest when every eligible voter has a voice.
This month’s Hot Policy Take is a close examination of how states vary in their efforts to maintain accurate voter lists – and how some new policies, often in the name of efforts to address unfounded concerns about non-citizen voting, risk purging eligible voters from the rolls.
In this email, we explore the rise in “deepfake” content and AI-generated misinformation as a threat to fair elections around the globe, as reported by CNBC. We also showcase our latest report in an article by USA Today. The report analyzes how election interference legislation has shifted over time – the story explores these implications for Georgia’s state election administrators.
Later in this issue, we spotlight a new report from our partners at the Bipartisan Policy Center, examining the facts and figures concerning – as well as what can be done about – turnover among election officials. We also offer a brief digest of developing state election legislation. |
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Maintaining accurate state voter lists is key to ensuring secure elections. But in several states, new legislation and litigation is forcing election administrations to take aggressive actions that risk purging eligible citizens from the rolls.
In this month’s Hot Policy Take, we identify some states where these new rules likely risk purging eligible citizens from the rolls. We also explore and offer some solutions that enable states to maintain accurate voter rolls without compromising the rights of eligible voters.
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BY THE NUMBERS
900%
That’s the reported increase, year over year, of election-related “deepfake” content generated, as reported by machine learning firm Clarity in a recent story from CNBC. More than 40 countries will hold an election this year, but it seems tech platforms are not prepared to effectively manage this rising tide of election-related misinformation. Indeed, a recent study found that no major internet platforms currently meet standards of transparency set out by the European Union’s Digital Services Act.
There have been some significant attempts made to confront this issue in the United States, as we covered in last month’s analysis. It is urgent that technology platforms must also take these threats to our democracy seriously.
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WHAT WE'RE READING
More than half of U.S. states have enacted election interference laws since 2021, according to our latest report. Our analysis helped power a recent story from USA Today, examining how these changes will impact election administrators in several states – with a particular focus on Georgia.
Georgia will likely play a significant role in determining the outcome of the 2024 election. Several local election officials cited in the article voiced concern about new laws that would create criminal penalties for simply doing their job – and how these new laws could impact poll worker recruitment. Additionally, reductions in funding for election administration will contribute to Georgia’s election workers shouldering even more burdens in trying to run safe, secure, and free elections.
"We're expected to pull out what will be the largest election in U.S. history and the runoff associated with it with less funding than we had for 2020. … Because of all the changes you're rushing, you're most of the time working with inexperienced people … So yes, you have the opportunity to make mistakes.” — Milton Kidd, an election administrator who has served in Georgia since 2012.
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FROM OUR PARTNERS - Bipartisan Policy Center
Election administrators play a key role in keeping state elections operations smooth and secure. Recently, there has been growing concern that turnover of experienced election workers could see those with less experience filling the gap. Such a development could yield new challenges and lead to lower confidence in elections. Academic researchers at UCLA recently partnered with the Bipartisan Policy Center to release a new report studying the facts and figures of turnover of local chief election officials – and what it might mean for future elections.
They found that while turnover has increased at a faster pace in recent years, it is not a new phenomenon. The turnover of election officials has increased over the past two decades. What is new is which jurisdictions are impacted. While the turnover rates in smaller jurisdictions has increased at a consistent rate, larger jurisdictions have experienced a dramatic increase in recent years.
Turnover rates, both historic and recent, raise some concern – and the report provides solid recommendations to better set up election officials for long term success. The good news for our elections this year is that the researchers found that (1) our election systems are resilient in the face of change, and (2) most top election officials are very experienced. As of the time of publication, 65% of chief election officials have experience administering at least one presidential election – and those who are new in the role bring an average of eight years’ previous experience in elections (and an average of 11 years in large jurisdictions).
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THE MARKUP
The Markup is VRL’s weekly legislative update for voting rights insiders. If you’d like to get insights straight to your inbox each Monday, head here to sign up.
Here’s a brief update on what we’re watching this week, and a sneak peek into what you can expect from The Markup each week:
Newly enacted Kentucky bill allows more residents to vote in advance of Election Day with a valid excuse and ensures eligible incarcerated voters are able to request and cast mail ballots. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear allowed H.B. 580 to go into effect without his signature. The bill will allow more voters to cast ballots in the week before the state’s three-day early voting period if they have a valid excuse. Kentucky’s three-day early voting period is one of the nation’s shortest. The bill also facilitates mail ballot access for eligible incarcerated voters by ensuring they are able to request ballots over the phone and by allowing jail employees to handle ballots.
Mississippi legislature passes a bill codifying a process for correcting issues with mail ballot envelopes, while the governor vetoes a bill that would have made the role of county election commissioner nonpartisan. The Mississippi legislature sent the governor S.B. 2424, a bill that, if signed, will guarantee voters receive notice when there is an issue with their signature on their mail ballot envelope and be given an opportunity to correct it.
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