Tim Harper

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...

CDT Submits Testimony on Connecticut Bill Creating Criminal Penalties for Election Deepfakes Today, CDT submitted testimony to the Connecticut Joint Committee on Government Administration and Elections, urging modifications to H.B.6846 to protect users’ free expression rights. H.B.6846 would ...

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 Munich Security Conference Provides an Opportunity to Improve on the AI Elections Accord Ahead of the Munich Security Conference, one crucial issue is at risk of falling by the wayside: protecting democracy from abuses of AI.

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-...

With Outcome of CISA Election Security Review Looming, Agency Must Protect Critical Infrastructure On Friday, February 14th, acting Executive Director of the Cyber and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Bridget Bean issued a memo to agency staff announcing that all election security work would b...

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...

Adaptation and Innovation: The Civic Space Response to AI-Infused Elections With case studies also by: Laura Zommer and Kian Vesteinsson Introduction AI avatars delivered independent news about Venezuela’s contested election, allowing journalists to protect their identity and...

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...

A.I. Is Starting to Wear Down Democracy

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

This is Not An #Ad: Political Influencers, Elections, and Information Integrity on Social Media The rise of political influencers is among the latest ways that digital technology has changed how campaigns interact with voters and how voters engage with politics. CDT’s research in this area is designed to illuminate how the application of public and company policy to political influencers may affect the resilience of our democracy. To do […]

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...

Election companies stop sharing cyber data with DHS America's top vendors fear that data they submit on cyberattacks and vulnerabilities may be used against them. CISA has not provided them assurances.

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...

Dark Money Hit a Record High of $1.9 Billion in 2024 Federal Races Spending by groups that do not disclose their donors has increased and become harder to trace.

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" #ELB AP: The Republican challenger for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat has conceded last November’s election to the Democratic incumbent.  Jefferson Griffin said in a statement to The Associated Press ...

“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 District 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 Viola... You can read the detailed analysis at this link. Here is the core holding: The court concludes that the retroactive invalidation of absentee ballots cast by overseas military and civilian voters viola...

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

Trump’s executive order on elections is partly blocked The president had asserted authority to regulate voting that the Constitution grants explicitly to Congress and the states. Said the court: “Executive regulatory authority over federal elections does ...

www.votebeat.org/2025/04/24/t...

Trump to target ActBlue in presidential memorandum The action is expected to come Thursday.

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

Brain drain at Census Bureau has employees warning about the country's statistics Staff departures and survey cuts are roiling the federal agency in charge of producing census results, job numbers and other key statistics as Trump officials continue to slash the U.S. government.

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.

US office that counters foreign disinformation is being eliminated, say officials Conservative critics have long accused the department of helping to censor the American right.

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...

2025 Spring Fling CDT is pleased to announce our 2025 Spring Fling, a celebration during IAPP’s Global Privacy Summit. Join us on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, 8:00–10:30 PM at Dirty Habit in Washington, D.C.—you won’t want...

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) #ELB You can find the 2-1 opinion and dissent at this link. I’m at a meeting so no chance to read this closely right now, but it appears that the majority held that many of the ballots cast by challenged voters … Continue reading 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) →

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.

Waltz and staff used Gmail for government communications, officials say Trump’s national security adviser is trying to manage his way out of a crisis. But new revelations about his team’s operational security are piling up in the inbox.

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.

Adaptation and Innovation: The Civic Space Response to AI-Infused Elections With case studies also by: Laura Zommer and Kian Vesteinsson Introduction AI avatars delivered independent news about Venezuela’s contested election, allowing journalists to protect their identity and avoid politically motivated arrest. Voters in the United Kingdom could cast their ballots for an AI avatar to hold a seat in Parliament. A deepfake video showed United States […]

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...

These cuts aren’t about efficiency—they’re about defunding national security and leaving local governments with the bill.

Cuts to federal preparedness and cyber support will not reduce “taxpayer burdens,” as the EO claims. They’ll actually shift the cost of cybersecurity services to states and counties, and leave communities more open to cyberattacks on schools, emergency services, and local governments.

Federal agencies like #CISA provide the resources, national coordination, and intelligence sharing needed to stop threats before they spread. Expecting local election offices to handle nation-state cyber attacks without federal support isn’t common-sense policy—it’s a national security failure.