Beyond the ballot: misinformation, trust and truth in elections

How do electoral commissions balance public trust with the growing role of technology (like Artificial Intelligence) in electoral processes? Can AI be a democratic tool? How are the electoral commissions in Australia and UK dealing with threats like misinformation and foreign interference? Why is absolute independence important for the Australian and UK electoral commissions? In this episode, Tom Rogers and Vijay Rangarajan join Rory Medcalf to discuss congruent and colliding features of the Australian and British electoral systems: the role of losers' consent, the electoral commissions’ absolute independence, trust in democratic institutions, and influence of foreign interference come election time.  Tom Rogers is the Australian Electoral Commissioner.  Vijay Rangarajan is the Commissioner of the UK Electoral Commission.  Professor Rory Medcalf is Head of the ANU National Security College. His experience spans three decades across diplomacy, intelligence analysis, think tanks, journalism and academia.  TRANSCRIPTShow notes:  Listener survey: The Nation Security Podcast  NSC academic programs – find out more   Electoral Integrity Assurance Task Force  We’d love to hear from you! Send in your questions, comments, and suggestions to [email protected]. You can tweet us @NSC_ANU and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out on future episodes. The National Security Podcast is available on Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.