With the national midterm elections alongside high-profile contests such as the Los Angeles mayoral and California gubernatorial races, voters, election officials, and policymakers alike are being forced to confront AI’s growing role in democratic life. Can AI be responsibly integrated into election systems without compromising transparency or fairness? Who bears responsibility for governing its use—technology companies, election officials, lawmakers, or voters themselves? And what safeguards, norms, or reforms are needed to ensure that innovation serves democracy rather than undermines it?

Featured guests:

Kristen Muller (Executive Editor, The LA Local)

Darwin Mastin, Ph.D. (Founder & CEO, Synaptic Spike Venture Studio & TwinWise AI)

Michael Moore (Chief Information Security Officer, Arizona Secretary of State’s Office)

Gowri Ramachandran (Director of Elections and Security on the Elections & Government team, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU)

This program is co-presented by Zócalo Public Square, LA Local, and the ASU Mechanics of Democracy Lab.

Visit www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ for more programs, interviews and essays.