There’s a lot at stake in the 2024 US elections. The matchup of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump — as well as races in the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the states — will determine the future of the FTC, the FCC, antitrust, artificial intelligence, broadband, online safety and privacy, climate change, the right to repair, and more.
After an election observer in Milwaukee, WI noticed an issue with the tabulators, officials decided to recount all 30,000 of the absentee and early ballots that had already been tabulated.
The doors of one tabulating machine hadn’t been closed properly, CNN reports.
Former president Donald Trump is already alleging election irregularities in Pennsylvania, a swing state where he previously disputed election results in 2020. On Truth Social, he claims that “Law Enforcement coming!!!” — something he does not at present have authority over.
On X, Philadelphia City Commission Seth Bluestein says there is “absolutely no truth to this allegation.”
Trump’s unwillingness to accept valid election results definitely did not result in anything weird or bad in early January 2021.
After two arrests today, the FBI’s Detroit field office really wants you to know they’ll hunt you down:
The threat read in part: “I shall carry out an attack against conservative christan, (sic) filth in the event trump wins the election. ... Without a specific victim or ability to find the place I hid the gun, there’s not a thing the FBI can do until I complete the attack.”
Sissel was arrested by the FBI this morning and will be making an appearance in federal court this afternoon.
Young people are turning out in record numbers in Nevada — but the state has had to set aside a large number of ballots for “curing,” since the signatures on them don’t match what’s in the state’s voter database.
Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar told the New York Times:
“It’s mostly the fact that young people don’t have signatures these days,” he said. “And when they did register to vote through the automatic voter registration process, they signed a digital pad at D.M.V., and that became their license signature.”
Because according to Wired, it might leak your identity if you post there:
When loading new posts, VoteAlert inadvertently returned the email addresses of users who submitted reports or comments, making them visible to anyone who inspected the site’s source code.
Musk will be among the “small group” of people waiting for election results at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, according to The New York Times. Since endorsing Trump in July, Musk has reportedly contributed $119 million to a pro-Trump super PAC.
[The New York Times]
During his interview with Joe Rogan yesterday, Musk confirmed that X’s business is still suffering from an advertiser boycott and that he thinks “there’s no way that a Kamala regime would allow X to exist.”
“I think, if Trump wins, we’ll see most of the boycott lift,” he said. “But if Kamala wins, we’ll see that boycott get stronger.”
The New York Times’ infamously anxiety-provoking needle might go dark on election night if the newsroom can’t ensure its computer systems and data feeds are solid while its tech workers are on strike. If that happens, Times journalists will post old-fashioned live blogs after periodically running the needle’s statistical model.
[The New York Times]
Some platforms will permit claims that the 2020 election was rigged, but prohibit premature victory claims or voter intimidation. Social media has been under pressure from Republicans to be more hands-off in their moderation policies, and recently, several tech leaders have shown a willingness to step back. The Washington Post breaks down the different policies at Meta, Google/YouTube, TikTok, and X.
Meta originally planned to lift its ban on new election ads at the end of the day Tuesday, but now Axios reports that the company will continue blocking ads for several days after voting ends “to prevent any confusion or misinformation from spreading.”
The machines that process mail-in ballots help count thousands of votes in a day — and Philadelphia officials know that every second matters.
Joe Biden raised hopes that the US would finally plan for climate-displaced migrants. Today, it’s still a glaring hole in climate and immigration policy.
Smartmatic and Dominion are trying to debunk false stories and rebuild trust — but that’s a tall order in 2024.
Elon Musk didn’t show up to a Philadelphia court hearing over his $1 million giveaways to swing state voters, which the city’s DA has called an illegal lottery.
By not showing up, Musk risks being held in contempt of court and could face a fine — which probably won’t hurt him much.
Don’t worry — Elon Musk is somehow also involved.
It’s for the DA’s lawsuit over his probably illegal $1 million daily voter giveaway — I wonder if he’ll show up.
After Elon Musk shared a critique of District Attorney Larry Krasner’s suit to stop his swing state giveaways, the DA received an “avalanche” of antisemitic attacks, according to a legal filing. Krasner’s home address was even shared on the site, the filing says, with an X user writing that “Krasner loves visitors.”
[DocumentCloud via Politico]
Independent economists have warned former President Donald Trump’s plans would harm the US economy, and Musk — one of his most prominent backers — apparently agrees that’s a likely initial result. Musk agreed with an X post that said Trump’s plans would cause an “initial severe overreaction in the economy,” but lead to “rapid recovery to a healthier, sustainable economy.”
Trump has promised to roll back Biden’s EV policies on ‘day one.’
Here’s why embattled SEC chair Gary Gensler is a hot-button presidential issue.
Conservative courts are strangling the functions of government. Another round of Trump judges will finish us.
An endorsement of democracy, solving problems, and Kamala Harris.
The Washington Post posted a funny TikTok about owner Jeff Bezos’ decision — which he is publicly defending — to cancel its planned endorsement of Kamala Harris.
As part of its get-out-the-vote efforts — which included Tim Walz playing Crazy Taxi — the Kamala Harris campaign has created a Fortnite experience called Freedom Town, USA. You can try the experience at code 7331-5536-6547.
Hopefully the campaign makes an Animal Crossing island, too.
