Press Conference Video: The NORTH CAROLINA ELECTION INTEGRITY TEAM'S Press Conference in Raleigh on Wedneday, April 24th, 2024 at the Legislature https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGxStsrcJpBJxHSLmFFdWVtbZld?projector=1 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                    Contact: Jim Womack, NCEIT Tuesday, April 23, 2024                                                   Tel. (919) 770-4783 Joint Press Conference to Announce Election Integrity Legislative Agenda by NCEIT, VIP-NC, and NC Audit Force Leaders of several Statewide Groups will speak at a joint press conference at 12:00 p.m. on April 24th in Front of the Legislative Building on Jones Street in Raleigh Sanford, NC: During the long session of 2023, the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) wisely moved legislation that significantly reduced the vulnerability of North Carolina elections from manipulation and exploitation.  The NCGA repealed authority for joining the shadowy Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), which threatened to further bloat the state’s voter rolls. Legislators then banned private funding of elections and built a firewall preventing widespread exploitation of our elections by unrestricted 501(c) organizations in Senate Bill 747.  Section 37.(a) made it a misdemeanor offense for NGO's to affix tracking barcodes on ballot request forms.  That change almost certainly will prevent hundreds of thousands of unsolicited ballot request forms from being sent around the state, reducing the risk of illegal ballot harvesting. According to leaders of the Voter Integrity Project of North Carolina (VIP-NC), NC Audit Force, and the North Carolina Election Integrity Team (NCEIT), the state has not yet dealt with several glaring vulnerabilities in its election laws that could be exploited in 2024 and beyond, if left unchecked. According to VIP-NC Director Jay Delancy “Making citizenship a constitutional requirement for voting - as it is in most other states - is vitally important.  Passage of Senate Bill 630 would allow a ballot initiative this fall to make citizenship an unquestioned constitutional requirement for voting in future election cycles.” Delancy also noted, “House Bill 770 (Cast Vote Records) made its way through the House in 2023 but stalled in the Senate before the end of session.  The bill would assure access to artifacts needed for thorough post-election tabulation audits in 2024 and beyond.” During the press conference, Carol Snow, one of the NC Audit Force leaders, will address many of the deficiencies with the state’s voter registration list, presently corrupted with duplicates, felons and registrants who have permanently moved.  She observed, “Our voter registration form has only recently been updated to require submission of the SSN-4 or driver's license number.  Over 224,000 of the registrants on our voter list are missing that HAVA-required information.” Jim Womack, President of the North Carolina Election Integrity Team (NCEIT)stated, “This press conference will address other deficiencies for which legislative remedies have not been initiated, including: the abuse of same day registration, the costly and unnecessary length of early voting, inadequate auditing of election results, and exploitation of mail-in voting.” This press conference is to be held Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. near the entrance of the Legislative Building, 16 W. Jones St., Raleigh, NC.  Each presenter will respond to media questions as appropriate. ### North Carolina Election Integrity Team 101 S. Steele St., Sanford, NC 27330 www.nceit.org Link to newsletter here: https://shoutout.wix.com/so/b9OyB2JEs?languageTag=en&cid=7d564b12-254e-4191-b7f3-bb19ea4eafd0 Only members of NCEIT can get into Member Resources for the Action Alert and Letter to Legislators. If you wish to become a member of NCEIT, go to https://www.nceit.org/. Fill out the form at JOIN US. We vet everyone. Reporters, disruptors need not apply. We are looking for credible references. Once you are a member, you will get an invitation to our weekly Tuesday 11AM state call with legislative and legal updates. It's interactive. Questions encouraged. You will also have access to Member Resources - a wealth of election integrity information.

Scott Walter on the Jesse Kelly Show: Capital Research Center that uncovered Zuck Bucks exposes the who and the why so many rich guys throw money at overthrowing our Constitutional Republic without a monetary return. Arabella: https://youtu.be/EuIsff6uSJM?si=BaEcEoBHdnG2umXs Ugly Resources: Accountable.US’s Unaccountable “Dark Money” Rootshttps://capitalresearch.org/article/accountable-uss-unaccountable-dark-money-roots/ Democratic Arabella dark money network faces IRS complaint over lining ex-Clinton aide’s pockets Nonprofit groups in the largest Democratic-linked dark money network in the United States may have illegally "diverted substantial portions... . Aug 15, 2023 Capital Research Center Require Nonprofits to Disclose Their Foreign Grantmaking The House Ways and Means Committee recently announced an examination of, among other things, “whether foreign sources of funding are being... . Sep 12, 2023 The New York Times Democrats Decried Dark Money in Politics, but Used It to Defeat Trump A New York Times analysis reveals how the left outdid the right at raising and spending millions from undisclosed donors to defeat Donald... . Aug 21, 2022 The Maine Wire Arabella Advisors, the Left's Dark Money Juggernaut, Must Open Books Following Lawsuit The liberal non-profit New Venture Fund, the largest subsidiary of the leftist dark-money organization Arabella Advisors, will be forced to... . 2 weeks ago OpenSecrets Liberal 'dark money' groups' revenue soared ahead of 2020 elections Liberal “dark money” groups got a fundraising boost in 2020 as they funneled millions of dollars into political contributions and spending. . Dec 23, 2021 Politico Documents reveal massive 'dark-money' group boosted Democrats in 2018 A little-known nonprofit called The Sixteen Thirty Fund pumped $140 million into Democratic and left-leaning causes. . Nov 19, 2019 Free Beacon Top Democratic Operatives Were Quietly Pulling the Strings at a Voting Rights Group. Lawyers Say They May Have ... In the months before the 2020 elections, the New Venture Fund had a problem. The dark money behemoth, an arm of Arabella Advisors' sprawling... . Jul 10, 2023 The Federalist WaPo Carries Water For 'Dark Money' Behind Biden's SCOTUS Nominee Arabella Advisors is the most powerful liberal lobbying force in Washington, but Glenn Kessler aims his fire at conservative groups. . Mar 14, 2022 Capital Research Center The Shadow over America: Arabella Advisors $635 Million Empire in 2018 In The Shadow over America we continue to pull back the curtain on this vast political machine known as Arabella Advisors. . Sep 16, 2020 Capital Research Center Accountable.US's Unaccountable “Dark Money” Roots Against a backdrop of corruption allegations and partisanship, three “progressive” watchdog groups have formed Accountable.

Mail-in ballots without dates, or with incorrect dates, should not be counted, federal appeals court rules. View Epoch Times Post here. A state law in Pennsylvania that requires mail-in ballots to be dated is legal, a federal appeals court has ruled. The law, which says that voters must fill out, date, and sign envelopes containing the ballots, is not prevented by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a majority said in the March 27 ruling. That act bans denying “the right of any individual to vote in any election because of an error or omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration or other act requisite to voting.” But that provision “only applies when the state is determining who may vote,” U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas Ambro, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, wrote for the majority of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit panel. “In other words, its role stops at the door of the voting place. The provision does not apply to rules, like the date requirement, that govern how a qualified voter must cast his ballot for it to be counted.” The same court ahead of the 2022 election ruled that state officials must count undated ballots, but the U.S. Supreme Court vacated that order. After the state’s acting secretary of state said counties should still count undated ballots, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that counties could not count mail-in ballots with missing or incorrect dates. About 7,900 ballots were not counted in the 2020 election because they were missing a signature or date or had an inaccurate date, according to state officials. U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter later ruled that the Pennsylvania law violated the Civil Rights Act provision, meaning Pennsylvania officials had to count mail-in ballots even if they lacked dates or contained inaccurate dates. RELATED STORIES RNC Files Election Integrity Lawsuit Targeting Michigan’s Handling of Absentee Ballots 3/28/2024 Behind Massive Mail-in Ballot Push Is a Little-Noticed Executive Order 3/28/2024 “Federal law prohibits a state from erecting immaterial roadblocks, such as this, to voting,” Judge Baxter, appointed by former President Donald Trump, wrote at the time, referring to the Pennsylvania law. According to the law, a voter casting a ballot by mail must mark the ballot and then place it inside a provided envelope. That envelope must then be placed into a second envelope, which contains the areas for the date and signature. “The elector shall then fill out, date and sign the declaration printed on such envelope,” the law states. “This is a crucial victory for election integrity and voter confidence in the Keystone State and nationwide. Pennsylvanians deserve to feel confident in the security of their mail ballots, and this Third Circuit ruling roundly rejects unlawful left-wing attempts to count undated or incorrectly dated mail ballot,” Michael Whatley, the RNC’s chairman, said in a statement after the new ruling was handed down. Groups that sued over the law expressed disappointment. “If this ruling stands, thousands of Pennsylvania voters could lose their vote over a meaningless paperwork error. The ballots in question in this case come from voters who are eligible and who met the submission deadline,“ Mike Lee, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, said in a statement. ”In passing the Civil Rights Act, Congress put a guardrail in place to be sure that states don’t erect unnecessary barriers that disenfranchise voters. It’s unfortunate that the court failed to recognize that principle. Voters lose as a result of this ruling.” The ruling can be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the groups have not yet indicated whether they'll appeal. Justice Samuel Alito has said that the Pennsylvania law did not appear to violate the Civil Rights Act provision because it did not deny people the right to vote. “When a mail-in ballot is not counted because it was not filled out correctly, the voter is not denied ’the right to vote,'” he said previously. “Rather, that individual’s vote is not counted because he or she did not follow the rules for casting a ballot.” Several other justices supported his view, offered in a dissent when the rest of the court initially said Pennsylvania counties could keep counting undated ballots. Judge Ambro offered a similar rationale, writing that the provision “targets laws that restrict who may vote” and “does not preempt state requirements on how qualified voters may cast a valid ballot, regardless what (if any) purpose those rules serve.” He was joined by U.S. Circuit Judge Cindy Chung, who was appointed by President Joe Biden. U.S. Circuit Judge Patty Shwartz, an appointee of President Barack Obama and the third member of the panel that ruled, said in a dissent that the provision “means that state actors cannot deprive a voter of the right to vote due to an error or omission he makes on papers that he must complete to have his ballot counted, including on papers distinct from application or registration forms, if the mistake is not relevant to the State’s ability to ascertain whether he is qualified under state law to vote in the election.”

We are making progress! Wisconsin Becomes 28th State to Ban ZuckerBucks Before 2024 Election https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/wisconsin-voters-approve-measures-that-will-change-the-way-elections-are-run-in-the-battleground-state/ar-BB1kYynZ?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=12dcd44974df42dcba62c9c39491c035&ei=10 Wisconsin voters on Tuesday night approved two Republican-backed measures that will change the way elections are run in the pivotal battleground state. A majority of Wisconsin voters supported a state constitutional amendment to prevent local governments from using private donations to fund the administrative side of elections. They also voted in favor of a rule that prohibits anyone other than election officials from performing election-related duties. Republicans have championed the amendments as methods of decreasing outside influence on the state’s elections. Meanwhile, Democrats have opposed them, arguing they lead to unnecessary ambiguity for election officials, especially as they have struggled with resources in recent years. The measures are aimed at addressing concerns conservatives had during the 2020 election over millions of dollars in grants being donated to Wisconsin’s largest cities by a voting rights group. That year, the Center for Tech and Civic Life donated more than $8 million to five major Wisconsin hubs as part of a national initiative to help local governments manage the costs associated with elections during the COVID-19 pandemic. Election officials who received the money said it helped them meet increased demand for absentee ballots and vote-by-mail initiatives. But Republican groups argued the money was largely spent in Democratic strongholds and tilted the results of the race. Related video: Voters eager to cast ballots in Wisconsin spring election, despite terrible weather (WTMJ Milwaukee, WI)

Manym many thanks to Craig Seibert from Mecklenburg County for organizing this material from EIN. It's awesome! Craig also runs Christian Civics. You need to check out the work he does. Craig Seibert Director www.ChristianCivicsTraining.org www.ChristianCitizenshipTraining.org MASTER CLASS - ONBOARDING VIDEO LINKS – Categorized by the 8 Lanes Provided by EIN – The Election Integrity Network These video links will introduce you to the type of activities that are involved in each of the areas.   Some of the videos will mention all the research you can do or need to get up to speed on.   GOOD NEWS… a lot of that has been done in many areas… so you will not be starting from scratch !!! Get a Citizens Guide -  Go to https://whoscounting.us/citizensguide/ supply your email and get download Task Force – Launching a Task Force Lesson 1 by Cleta Mitchell: Overview of your Election Integrity Infrastructure – 5m Lesson 2: Forming your Local Election Integrity Task Force – 5m Lesson 3: How to Grow your Local Election Integrity Task Force & Working Groups – 5m 1~ County Board of Election Liaison (Leads all local Task Force interactions with CBE)​ Lesson 4: Researching your Local Election Office – 3m Lesson 5: Working Groups in Election Integrity are Necessary – 5m 3~ Mail Voting Processes  (Monitors how USPS & CBE handles all absentee ballots)​ Lesson 6: Get Knee Deep in Voting by Mail – 6m Lesson 7: Know the Role of the USPS in Voting by Mail –7 m 2~ Poll Observers, employees, and greeters (Recruited & trained at all voting locations Lesson 8: Becoming an Election Worker – 3m Lesson 9: Becoming a Poll Watcher – 5m Lesson 10: The Difference Between Poll Workers & Watchers – 5m Lesson 11: Regulations and Requirements for Poll Watchers – 5m 4~ List Maintenance (Analyzes voter rolls and monitors SBE voter roll maintenance Lesson 12: Cleaning Voter Rolls – 7m 5~ Vulnerable Voters (Assists with elder care, handicapped, and military ballots.)​ Lesson 13: Protecting Vulnerable Voters – Assisted Living– 4m Lesson 14: Protecting Vulnerable Voters! Military Voters - Part 2 – 6m 6~ Machines & Technology  (Monitors certification of machines & software)​ Lesson 15: Citizen Oversight of Voting Machines - Part 1 –4m Lesson 16: Citizen Oversight of Voting Machines - Part 2 –10m Task Force – Best Practices Lesson 17: The Virginia Model – 6m Freedom of Information Act and Public Records Request Research Lesson 18: Citizens Research Project – 6m Task Force – Best Practices Lesson 19: Supporting your Local Election Integrity Task Force -7m 7~ Statutory Provisions & Compliance (Legislative oversight and advocacy)​ Lesson 20: Legislative Success Part 1: First steps in developing legislator relationships – 8m Lesson 21: Legislative Success Part 2: Principles and procedures of the legislative process – 9m ============================ NATIONAL TASK FORCE CALLS Based on your interest area, begin to join these national calls that will train and equip you in everything you need to know and can bring back to the NCEIT-Mecklenburg County Team.   You need to click on the link in advance of the call and register in order to attend the call.   A best practice is to do this several hours in advance of the call. This link will be the most accurate and current of scheduled calls. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1P1eS6ldu4CjIr45YbGENL2GzR3ITo2fm7vRqExaNIEU/edit#gid=1645296819 The general schedule is as follows:

https://grncalert.com/pass-constitutional-carry-2023-h189/ Pass NC Freedom to Carry (Constitutional Carry) H189 Show up in Raleigh on April 24th or Sign the Petition. It's Our Inalienable Right! Read the details here. Sign this online petition to the NC Legislature to demand that they pass Constitutional Carry for North Carolina Now: I, the signatory of this petition, do hereby affirm that: Whereas, the Supreme Court of the United States has three times ruled that the Second Amendment reinforces a fundamental, natural right of individuals to keep and bear arms; Whereas, no other right enumerated in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights requires governmental permission merely to exercise a fundamental natural right; Whereas, twenty-eight (28) states have now passed some form of permitless or “constitutional” concealed carry of handguns, leaving North Carolina in a disadvantaged minority; Whereas, none of the states which have adopted permitless or constitutional carry have experienced the problems predicted by naysayers; Whereas, the North Carolina General Assembly now has supermajorities in both chambers, rendering them capable of overriding a probable veto by Governor Roy Cooper; and Whereas, Second Amendment voters were in large part responsible for wins in the 2022 elections which gave Republicans the supermajorities needed to override a veto by Governor Roy Cooper; I do hereby call upon Republican leaders in the North Carolina Senate and North Carolina House to give prompt consideration via a committee hearing to House Bill 189, “NC Constitutional Carry Act.” Additionally, I call upon all members of the NC General Assembly to support HB 189 by all means, procedural and substantive.

Show up on April 24th or Sign the Petition Gun Rights Supporters: Last year, as House Bill 189 for permit-less concealed carry stalled, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said: “We've done away with the pistol purchase permit, which was the No. 1 goal of many of the gun rights groups for a long period of time. I just don't know if there's a need for us to delve into additional issues dealing with guns and people's 2nd Amendment rights.” While partially true – and we thank Republicans for passing the pistol purchase permit repeal – Phil Berger is effectively saying that he believes HE should decide which of your rights you “need.” Meanwhile, Florida and Nebraska, Louisiana, and South Carolina passed constitutional carry, bringing the number of states with permit-less carry to 29. Yes, North Carolina now lies within the minority of states which continue to deny this basic civil right to their citizens. Thanks to Berger and other “you-have-enough-rights” naysayers at the General Assembly, HB 189 continues to languish in the House Rules Committee while North Carolina falls behind other freedom-loving red states. Yes, North Carolina Republicans are falling behind even their own party in restoring your Second Amendment freedoms. GRNC holds Republicans’ feet to the fire (again) As always, Grass Roots North Carolina will follow through on its promises by delivering a petition with thousands of signatures calling for constitutional carry to Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger on April 24, on the opening day of the second year of the two-year legislative session. And unlike certain other phony gun groups which exist solely to take your money, when GRNC delivers a message to the NC General Assembly, legislators listen. If HB 189 doesn’t pass in this session, the bill will be dead. What we need YOU to do RIGHT NOW  ATTEND the April 24 petition presentation: Please RSVP to DirectorOfDevelopment@GRNC.org to confirm you attend. Take a day from work if you need to. Showing Berger we are serious is a lot easier if a few dozen constitutional carry advocates show up at his office.  Constitutional carry Petition presentation details: WHAT: A limited gathering to present a hand truck with thousands of petitions to Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, thereby delivering a clear message that Republicans should “remember who ‘brung ‘em to the dance.” We will also do a limited distribution of talking points to relevant Republicans. WHEN: April 24, 10:00 AM EDT WHERE: NC General Assembly Printed Bills office, 16 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601. SEE MAP AT BOTTOM BELOW. WHY: To tell legislators loud and clear that you will not let them dictate your civil rights  ASK OTHERS TO SIGN the petition: Even if you have signed (and we need you to sign if you haven’t), please pass the link along to like-minded friends and relatives, asking them to sign the petition. TIME IS GROWING SHORT. You can find the constitutional carry petition by going to: grncalert.com/pass-constitutional-carry-2023-h189/ You will note that I’m not asking for money. (At least not right now.) What GRNC needs – what YOU need – is to SHOW UP at the NC General Assembly at 16 West Jones St., Raleigh, NC 27601 on April 24 at 10:00 AM. Please note that no legislative experience is required. We will have volunteers to guide you, including distributing literature to legislators. With your help, GRNC will continue its nearly three decades of victory. Armatissimi e liberissimi, F. Paul Valone President, Grass Roots North Carolina Executive Director, Rights Watch International Host, Guns, Politics and Freedom Author, Rules for ANTI-Radicals: A Practical Handbook for Defeating Leftism

A new battle front: States Rush to Combat AI Threat to Elections Another new battle front: Remember Zuck Bucks? Well, NC passed a ban in S747 passed a ban on private money infiltrating ourBOEs and Commissioners. Twenty two other states did too. Good, right? S747 (t) The State Board shall not accept private monetary donations or in-kind contributions, directly or indirectly, for conducting elections or employing individuals on a temporary basis." ... (18) County boards of elections shall not accept private monetary donations or in-kind contributions, directly or indirectly, for conducting elections or employing individuals on a temporary basis....(b) County boards of commissioners shall not accept private monetary donations or in-kind contributions, directly or indirectly, for conducting elections or employing individuals Page 2 Session Law 2023-140 Senate Bill 747 on a temporary basis. This subsection does not prohibit the in-kind donation or use of a voting site, if that voting site is used for the purpose of conducting elections." However, Evil doesn't quit. A new 501c3 Leftist partisan group called Cities Forward has set up a trial balloon in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to infiltrate - are you ready - Libraries! Yes. So all of those states like ours who have enacted those laws to ban outside influence money and are fronts for GOTV and ballot harvesting, have to go back to the drawing board and tweak our ban on private money and people. Reaffirm the commitment as permanent watchdogs. Please Join NCEIT.org.

Click here for a website that has a list of links to access state laws in every state

States rush to combat AI threat to elections • New Hampshire Bulletin This year’s presidential election will be the first since generative AI – a form of artificial intelligence that can create new content, including images, audio, and video – became widely available. That’s raising fears that millions of voters could be deceived by a barrage of political deepfakes. But, while Congress has done little to address the issue, states are moving aggressively to respond – though questions remain about how effective any new measures to combat AI-created disinformation will be. The New Hampshire House passed a bill Thursday to require that all political advertisements in the state disclose to viewers if they used “synthetic media,” defined as any image, audio recording, or video recording of an individual’s appearance, action, or speech, that is realistic but fake. That bill, House Bill 1596, would mandate that disclosure for all advertisements within 90 days of the election. The disclosure would need to be visible on a static or print advertisement, appear for the whole duration of a video advertisement, and be spoken clearly at 2-minute intervals for an audio advertisement. The bill would apply to people, corporations, and political committees. News organizations that replay AI generated clips as part of a news report would be exempt as long as the outlet clearly identified the media as false and AI-driven. The bill also includes exemptions for satire and parody efforts. The problem is global. Last year, a fake, AI-generated audio recording of a conversation between a liberal Slovakian politician and a journalist, in which they discussed how to rig the country’s upcoming election, offered a warning to democracies around the world. Here in the United States, the urgency of the AI threat was driven home in February, when, in the days before the New Hampshire primary, thousands of voters in the state received a robocall with an AI-generated voice impersonating President Joe Biden, urging them not to vote. A Democratic operative working for a rival candidate has admitted to commissioning the calls. In response to the call, the Federal Communications Commission issued a ruling restricting robocalls that contain AI-generated voices. Not all have been in favor of legislative efforts. In New Hampshire, half of the members on the House Election Law Committee opposed the bill. Critics said it would have a “chilling effect on freedom of expression” and could cause candidates or campaigns to self-censor. After its passage in the full House Thursday, the bill heads next to the Senate. Some conservative groups even appear to be using AI tools to assist with mass voter registration challenges – raising concerns that the technology could be harnessed to help existing voter suppression schemes. “Instead of voters looking to trusted sources of information about elections, including their state or county board of elections, AI-generated content can grab the voters’ attention,” said Megan Bellamy, vice president for law and policy at the Voting Rights Lab, an advocacy group that tracks election-related state legislation. “And this can lead to chaos and confusion leading up to and even after Election Day.” Disinformation worries The AI threat has emerged at a time when democracy advocates already are deeply concerned about the potential for “ordinary” online disinformation to confuse voters, and when allies of former president Donald Trump appear to be having success in fighting off efforts to curb disinformation. But states are responding to the AI threat. Since the start of last year, 101 bills addressing AI and election disinformation have been introduced, according to a March 26 analysis by the Voting Rights Lab. On March 27, Oregon became the latest state – after Wisconsin, New Mexico, Indiana, and Utah – to enact a law on AI-generated election disinformation. Florida and Idaho lawmakers have passed their own measures, which are currently on the desks of those states’ governors. Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, and Hawaii, meanwhile, have all passed at least one bill – in the case of Arizona, two – through one chamber. As that list of states makes clear, red, blue, and purple states all have devoted attention to the issue. In New Hampshire, Rep. Angela Brennan, a Bow Democrat, praised the House vote on Thursday. “I am grateful that, in this first election year where artificial intelligence is accessible at everyone’s fingertips, the House was able to come together to pass HB 1596 on a strong bipartisan voice vote,” she said in a statement. “The dissemination of disinformation is detrimental to our democracy and this body is sending a strong message that Granite State voters deserve better than dirty tricks.” States urged to act Meanwhile, a new report on how to combat the AI threat to elections, drawing on input from four Democratic secretaries of state, was released March 25 by the NewDEAL Forum, a progressive advocacy group. “(G)enerative AI has the ability to drastically increase the spread of election mis- and disinformation and cause confusion among voters,” the report warned. “For instance, ‘deepfakes’ (AI-generated images, voices, or videos) could be used to portray a candidate saying or doing things that never happened.” The NewDEAL Forum report urges states to take several steps to respond to the threat, including requiring that certain kinds of AI-generated campaign material be clearly labeled; conducting role-playing exercises to help anticipate the problems that AI could cause; creating rapid-response systems for communicating with voters and the media, in order to knock down AI-generated disinformation; and educating the public ahead of time. Secretaries of State Steve Simon of Minnesota, Jocelyn Benson of Michigan, Maggie Toulouse Oliver of New Mexico, and Adrian Fontes of Arizona provided input for the report. All four are actively working to prepare their states on the issue. Loopholes seen Despite the flurry of activity by lawmakers, officials, and outside experts, several of the measures examined in the Voting Rights Lab analysis appear to have weaknesses or loopholes that may raise questions about their ability to effectively protect voters from AI. Most of the bills require that creators add a disclaimer to any AI-generated content, noting the use of AI, as the NewDEAL Forum report recommends. But the new Wisconsin law, for instance, requires the disclaimer only for content created by campaigns, meaning deepfakes produced by outside groups but intended to influence an election – hardly an unlikely scenario – would be unaffected. In addition, the measure is limited to content produced by generative AI, even though experts say other types of synthetic content that don’t use AI, like Photoshop and CGI – sometimes referred to as “cheap fakes” – can be just as effective at fooling viewers or listeners, and can be more easily produced. For that reason, the NewDEAL Forum report recommends that state laws cover all synthetic content, not just that which use AI. New Hampshire’s proposed law does that: The legislation applies to any image that has been “created or intentionally manipulated,” and is not limited to generative AI. The Wisconsin, Utah, and Indiana laws also contain no criminal penalties – violations are punishable by a $1,000 fine – raising questions about whether they will work as a deterrent. The Arizona and Florida bills do include criminal penalties. But Arizona’s two bills apply only to digital impersonation of a candidate, meaning plenty of other forms of AI-generated deception – impersonating a news anchor reporting a story, for instance – would remain legal. And one of the Arizona bills, as well as New Mexico’s law, applied only in the 90 days before an election, even though AI-generated content that appears before that window could potentially still affect the vote. Experts say the shortcomings exist in large part because, since the threat is so new, states don’t yet have a clear sense of exactly what form it will take. “The legislative bodies are trying to figure out the best approach, and they’re working off of examples that they’ve already seen,” said Bellamy, pointing to the examples of the Slovakian audio and the Biden robocalls. “They’re just not sure what direction this is coming from, but feeling the need to do something.” “I think that we will see the solutions evolve,” Bellamy added. “The danger of that is that AI-generated content and what it can do is also likely to evolve at the same time. So hopefully we can keep up.” New Hampshire Bulletin reporter Ethan DeWitt contributed to this report.

Thank you Cher for sharing this with us and for attending our meeting on 3/27. As Sheila Franklin shared, it would be good for phone calls or emails to be sent to the City Council, the mayor and to the City Manager about the mural. It is important to speak in a kind but firm tone in why we should not have the Pride flag on a welcome to Hendersonville mural. Here are the websites to meetings: I put these on my calendar to remind me when the meetings are… Here is the School Board Meeting website and schedule and where to see the agenda… Next meeting is April 8th at 4… which is the eclipse day.  I will be at the Masters in Augusta, GA. https://www.hendersoncountypublicschoolsnc.org/district/administration/school-board10/board-meeting-notices-2/board-minutes/board-agendas-and-minutes-school-year-2023-24/ Here is the website to the City Council meetings and agendas. The next meeting is April 4th at 5:45. https://hendersonville-nc.municodemeetings.com The next DEI meeting is not until May 14 at 4:30. https://hendersonville-nc.municodemeetings.com/ The flag in the suggested mural is EXCLUSIVE not INCLUSIVE. The US Flag represents all of us and needs to replace the 'Pride Flag' that sends the wrong messae and does not represent the good will of Henderson county as a welcome place for all.