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August 2023

Donald Trump was indicted last week on felony charges for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The four-count indictment chronicles the cascading effect of the former president's months-long campaign of lies regarding the election results leading to  the insurrection at the Capitol, and in turn Trump trying to  exploit the violence as a reason to further delay the counting of the votes that sealed his defeat. Visit Associated Press to learn moreImage Credit:Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Over the last four years, over 40 of North Carolina’s 100 counties have had to replace their election directors due to retirements, resignations, and other career moves. A spokesperson for the state Board of Elections claims that number is significantly higher than North Carolina has ever seen before. This trend is not isolated in North Carolina, a Boston Globe analysis of data from the US Vote Foundation found that turnover of election officials spiked after the 2020 presidential election in battleground states like Arizona,

Lawmakers in New York have expanded voting access by passing the New York Early Mail Voter Act. The new act allows registered voters to get early mail voting ballots by submitting an application to their local Board of Elections. Brett Edkins, managing director for policy and political affairs at Stand Up America, believes the new policy will increase voter turnout, especially among young people, voters of color, and elderly voters.  Visit Public News Service to learn moreImage Credit:Cliffordsnow (CC BY-SA 4.0)

As they begin to prepare ahead of the 2024 election, efforts to deceive the public regarding voting and elections remains a top concern for state election officials. Several secretaries of state recently gathered in Washington for the annual summer conference of the National Association of Secretaries of State; at the conference officials identified misinformation and the emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools to create false or misleading content as some of their top concerns. Other top concerns included staffing and the loss of experienced

North Carolina lawmakers are considering three bills that voting rights advocates claim could grind the state’s democratic apparatus to a halt. The proposed changes would restrict same-day registration and mail in voting. Democratic representatives and voting rights advocates claim the new legislation could threaten the democratic process and suppress voting, Republican sponsors of the three bills did not respond to requests for comment. Visit NBC News to learn more Image Credit: Famartin (CC BY-SA 4.0)