New Trends in Political Campaigning

New Trends in Political Campaigning

Lawmakers respond to concerns about the use of artificial intelligence and campaign funds.

State Legislatures NewsPolicyElectionsLegislative Summit

Discussing trends in political campaigning at the Legislative Summit were, from left, Alexis Stangl of Minnesota's Office of Senate Counsel; Adam Kuckuk, an NCSL policy associate; Kentucky Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe; and Adav Noti of the Campaign Legal Center.

"Here we are today, where the lines of human oration and machine-generated persuasion are absolutely blurred. In this brave new world, your new favorite campaign line may have been written by a machine."

The lines above mostly were, Kentucky Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe told a session on new trends in political campaigning at NCSL's 2024 Legislative Summit.

When it comes to elections, Bledsoe says that campaigns and organizations, as well as states, can adopt policies on AI, but "destructive users" remain the biggest concern. Parties, campaigns and advertisers might adhere to laws and regulations on AI use, but malicious actors trying to sow confusion with a deepfake pose a threat.

Adam Kuckuk, policy associate in NCSL's Elections and Redistricting Program, says state attempts to curb abuses of AI in elections began in 2019, when California and Texas enacted restrictions on deepfake videos. Since then, legislation aimed at regulating AI in campaigning has ballooned, with over 100 bills on AI and political messaging introduced and 14 enacted in 2024 alone.

Common approaches include identifying what types of media are covered by AI regulations-pictures, videos, etc.-and taking one of three approaches: requiring disclosure of the use of AI; prohibiting AI-generated political messaging within a certain time from the election; or requiring disclosure of metadata.

Mays Bledsoe, who co-chairs the Kentucky Legislature's AI Task Force, says legislators are working hard to balance freedom of speech with the threat of malicious AI.

Campaign Finance

While AI gets plenty of attention, experimentation also continues in another critical area: campaign finance. Adav Noti, executive director of the Campaign Legal Center, says three issues-the use of campaign funds for child care and security; financial disclosure requirements; and foreign influence-top the list of priorities.

He says a good campaign finance regime requires "prompt disclosure of all the money that comes into the system," including an original source disclosure law like those adopted by several states. Approaches to original source disclosure vary, and generally requires that individuals donating to a PAC be named when the committee donates to a candidate's campaign. In the absence of original source disclosure laws, the name of the PAC is disclosed on campaign finance reports, but those of individual donors are not.

Noti says while U.S. corporations can make political contributions, the government can prohibit foreign corporations from spending money to influence an election.

In light of this, Noti says the crucial question is, "Where does the foreign influence and foreign ownership of a corporation become so extensive that it is constitutionally permissible to treat that corporation as a foreign corporation for purposes of campaign finance?"

He says states answer the question differently: Maine and Minnesota, for example, have defined a corporation as foreign if it is 5% foreign owned, while Connecticut sets its threshold at 20%.

Corporate spending accounts for significant political expenditures and fuels activity ranging from issue advocacy operations to television and social media ads. Determining which corporations can participate in American politics can have a big impact on corporations themselves and the political races they seek to influence, Noti says.

Helen Brewer is a policy specialist in NCSL's Elections and Redistricting Program.