Privacy rights, election official turnover

Friday, April 12, 2024

In this week's newsletter: Privacy Rights, Election Official Turnover

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Privacy gets a legislative boost...?

Data privacy has been a growing public concern for years and the subject of increasingly tense debate among policymakers. The issue took center stage this week as Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) released their bipartisan American Privacy Rights Act, which would create a new national data privacy law. On the upside, it would limit the personal data companies can collect, keep, use, and transfer to other parties; empower people to “opt-out” of data collection; establish reasonable data security practices; and prohibit data collection and usage that discriminates by race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or disability. It would also require “impact assessments” – an area in which BPC has done pioneering work – to ensure that the algorithms companies use do not cause discrimination or facilitate fraud. Nevertheless, the legislation doesn’t go far enough, especially when it comes to protecting children from online threats.

...but the bill needs work, and action this year is hardly assured

?

To build on APRA, lawmakers could turn to another measure – the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) – which mirrors the work BPC’s Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Task Force is doing to find evidence-based, pragmatic solutions to safe and secure social media use. KOSA was introduced by Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Erin Houchin (R-IN), and Kim Schrier (D-WA). If APRA and KOSA move forward, together or independently, it will reshape the legal framework for data privacy. But don’t expect speedy action. Lawmakers of both parties who played no role in drafting APRA will have lots of ideas of how to amend or re-write it. By all accounts, key players such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) did not play major roles in APRA’s negotiation, so Chairs Cantwell and McMorris Rodgers will have to navigate a delicate political landscape. ?Congress also has a growing backlog of high-profile items to consider this year (Ukraine aid, FAA reauthorization, fiscal year 2025 appropriations, and more) and a dwindling amount of floor time. Meanwhile, the House’s struggle this week to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reminds us that legislating is tough enough these days – and it won’t get easier as November’s elections draw closer. Don’t be surprised if privacy legislation falls victim to a time squeeze and the debate picks up in the next Congress.

Concerns about election official turnover

?“Turnover among local election officials has been increasing pretty steadily since 2000,” Rachel Orey, senior associate director of BPC’s Elections Project, said this week on “The Briefing,” BPC’s co-branded show on SiriusXM (Channel 124). In a new report, we found that 39 percent of local election officials left their positions in 2022 – compared to 28 percent in 2004 and 34 percent in 2016. Despite conventional wisdom that recent election official turnover is a product of threats and harassment of election officials since 2020, it’s really a continuation of longer-term trends that are driven by “chronic stressors,” including underfunding of election administration (and the pay of election officials) and rising workloads. We recommend (1) providing more support and resources for election officials, including better compensation, training, and security; (2) enhancing institutional knowledge and experience through professionalization, succession planning, mentoring, and comprehensive election procedure manuals; (3) nurturing collaboration and communication between state associations of election officials, federal entities, and other stakeholders; and (4) ensuring stable federal and state funding to support election administration, recruitment, and workforce development.

We’ll touch base again next Friday.? Have a good weekend.