Election expert criticizes MAGA push for hand-counting ballots, calling it impractical
📰 Original title: GOP election expert slams top MAGA election demand: 'Asinine in the extreme'
🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
👥 Users: It's clickbait ⚠️

A Republican election expert has strongly criticized a growing demand among some MAGA supporters to require hand counting of ballots in U.S. elections, describing the idea as impractical and highly inefficient. Stephen Richer, former Maricopa County recorder and current fellow at the Cato Institute, argued that replacing machine tabulation with full hand counts would dramatically slow down election results, reduce accuracy, and significantly increase costs. In a recent interview, Richer called the proposal “asinine in the extreme,” emphasizing that states with large and complex ballots, such as California, would be especially affected. He noted that California voters often face ballots with more than 80 different contests, which would take enormous time to count manually across millions of votes, potentially delaying results for months. Richer also addressed comparisons made by supporters of hand counting, who often point to countries like France as examples of successful manual tabulation. He countered that such comparisons are misleading because France typically holds simpler elections with fewer ballot items, unlike the multi-race ballots common in many U.S. states. According to Richer, the scale and complexity of American elections make full hand counting unrealistic and far less efficient than current systems. While rejecting hand counting as a general method, he emphasized that hand counts still play an important role in election audits, helping verify machine accuracy and maintain trust in results. He also defended paper ballots, describing them as a valuable safeguard because they create a secure, verifiable record that can be audited and is resistant to hacking. Overall, Richer argued that modern election systems should focus on improving efficiency and transparency rather than reverting to slower, more error-prone manual counting methods.
Voter guide to California statewide executive offices in the 2026 election
📰 Original title: Your last-minute guide for California insurance commissioner, controller and other statewide offices
🤖 IA: It's not clickbait ✅
👥 Users: It's not clickbait ✅
View full AI summary https://en.killbait.com/voter-guide-to-california-statewide-executive-offices-in-the-2026-election.html?utm_source=mastodon_world&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_world

The article provides a comprehensive overview of California’s statewide executive offices that voters will decide in the 2026 election, beyond the high-profile governor’s race. It explains that while much attention is focused on replacing Governor Gavin Newsom, several other key positions in Sacramento play essential roles in state governance, often with less public visibility but significant administrative and regulatory responsibilities. The guide outlines the duties of each major office. The attorney general serves as California’s top law enforcement official and has become increasingly prominent in legal battles with federal policies. The state treasurer manages investment funds, including the Pooled Money Investment Account, and oversees financing for infrastructure, education, housing, and environmental projects. The secretary of state administers elections, manages campaign finance oversight, and handles business filings and voter information. The controller acts as the state’s chief fiscal watchdog, auditing government agencies to ensure accountability and transparency in public spending. Other offices include the lieutenant governor, who would assume the governorship if needed and serves on key educational governing boards, and the insurance commissioner, who regulates home, auto, and other insurance markets—an increasingly important role amid wildfire-related insurance crises in California. The state superintendent of public instruction oversees education policy and provides leadership for California’s school system. The article also highlights the competitive nature of these races, noting multiple candidates across party lines in several contests. It emphasizes that while these positions may lack the visibility of the governor’s office, they significantly influence daily life in California through oversight of elections, financial systems, education, and insurance markets.
Listening to Julian Krause's advice on equalizing voice, as in speech.


Researchers Demonstrate Hidden Audio Attacks Against AI Voice Assistants
📰 Original title: Hackers Find That Inaudible Sounds Hidden in Podcasts or Random Videos Can Hijack Your AI Voice Chatbot
🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
👥 Users: It's clickbait ⚠️
View full AI summary: https://en.killbait.com/researchers-demonstrate-hidden-audio-attacks-against-ai-voice-assistants.html?utm_source=mastodon_world&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_world

Researchers from China and Singapore have demonstrated a new type of cyberattack that uses inaudible audio signals to manipulate AI-powered voice assistants and chatbots. The study, presented at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, shows how attackers can embed hidden adversarial audio commands into ordinary media such as podcasts, songs, or YouTube videos. While human listeners cannot detect these sounds, AI voice systems may interpret them as legitimate commands. According to the researchers, the attack works by training a malicious audio signal that can consistently exploit a targeted AI model regardless of what the user is saying. Once created, the signal can be inserted into background audio content and potentially trigger unauthorized actions on connected devices. These actions could include accessing personal files, sensitive information, or connected online services. Lead researcher Meng Chen explained that current defensive measures are ineffective because AI systems struggle to distinguish between legitimate voice input and carefully crafted adversarial signals. The researchers also noted that the attack currently requires access to the underlying weights of the targeted AI model, limiting the method mainly to open-source systems. However, the study found that some commercial products built on open-source models, including systems associated with Microsoft and Mistral, were also vulnerable. Microsoft responded by stating that the research helps improve understanding of AI model resilience and emphasized that developers should implement additional security layers in real-world applications. The findings highlight growing concerns about the security risks surrounding AI voice assistants and the broader challenge of protecting machine learning systems from adversarial attacks.
Trump's attempt to ban Dominion voting machines fails over insufficient security evidence
📰 Original title: Trump's plan to ban voting machines collapses due to lack of evidence
🤖 IA: It's not clickbait ✅
👥 Users: It's not clickbait ✅

A recent effort by former President Donald Trump's administration to ban Dominion Voting Systems machines across the United States has collapsed due to a lack of evidence supporting alleged security risks. White House adviser Kurt Olsen proposed declaring the machines' components as national security threats, aiming to remove them before the November midterm elections. Commerce Department officials explored legal avenues starting in September but abandoned the plan when Olsen's team failed to substantiate the claims. Investigations included physically dismantling machines seized from Puerto Rico, revealing only standard Intel chips packaged in China and other components from Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia, none considered security threats. This failed initiative reflects a continuing trend in Trump's administration to centralize election oversight, following previous executive actions on voter registration and the seizure of 2020 election records. The collapse of the machine ban demonstrates the challenges of implementing sweeping federal election changes without verifiable evidence and raises questions about the administration's approach to election integrity and security.