Newsletter: CEIR Welcomes a New Research Director, Deepfake Robocalls, 2024, and More | The Center for Election Innovation & Research

Newsletter: CEIR Welcomes a New Research Director, Deepfake Robocalls, 2024, and More CEIR welcomes Chris Mann as its new Research Director We are thrilled to announce Christopher Mann, PhD as CEIR’s new Research Director. Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from a rich career spanning three decades in research on election administration and policy. His appointment is a testament to his lifelong dedication to enhancing democratic processes and civic participation. Chris has served as an Associate Professor of Political Science at Skidmore College, Director of the Academy of Applied Politics at the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication, and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Miami. He earned his PhD in Political Science from Yale University. His research, focused on election administration, election policy, and voting behavior, has been published in leading peer-reviewed academic journals. Find CEIR’s nonpartisan, expert analysis on YouTube During the 2024 election cycle, CEIR will continue to help guide you through the election season with nonpartisan, expert analysis. Earlier this month, CEIR Executive Director David Becker took a closer look at Donald Trump’s legal arguments made before the DC Circuit Court, as he seeks immunity from prosecution for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Be sure to subscribe to the CEIR YouTube channel to get notified when David offers his analysis and cuts through the noise on breaking news. Deepfake robocall in New Hampshire brings AI-fueled disinformation to Election 2024 Robocalls and dirty tricks go back well before artificial intelligence. But the ability to seemingly place words in the mouth of a prominent figure makes the task of disentangling true and false messages all the more difficult. Although disinformation that leads voters to believe false claims is concerning, Center for Election Innovation & Research Executive Director David Becker sees a larger problem—a general erosion of trust. “Our foreign adversaries in Russia and China and Iran, as well as domestic actors who’ve been lying about the election, don’t need to convince us that the lies are true,” says Becker. “They just need to convince us that there is no truth, that you can’t believe anything. Whether they use AI or not, they want us to generally distrust our overall election system and all information about it.” Authors & Insights at the McCain Institute CEIR Executive Director David Becker and CBS News’ Major Garrett joined McCain Institute Executive Director Dr. Evelyn Farkas to discuss Garrett and Becker’s book, “The Big Truth: Upholding Democracy in the Age of The Big Lie.” They reveal why Big Lie “fraud” allegations evaporate under scrutiny, report what actually happened in 2020 while calling out each Trumpian misdirection designed to con and beguile Americans into chasing phantom allegations of election crimes. Subscribe Sign up for our newsletter so you never miss an update on the state of U.S. elections! Subscribe