Election countdown 2020: The people working to support our democracy

They're ensuring the vote isn't rigged, fighting misinformation, stopping voter suppression, and defending against hackers. View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions 10.02.20 The US may be headed for the most contentious election in history, one beset by misinformation, voter suppression, the specter of cyberattack, and a lethal pandemic, among other threats. So for the October issue of WIRED, we went out to find the people doing the most to make elections hacker-proof, suppression-proof, conspiracy-proof, and Covid-proof—from the officials managing the tight choreography of every mail-in ballot’s journey to get counted, to the Texas county clerk who’s banded together with the nation’s best cryptologists to break voting technology out of the stone age, to the nomadic cybersecurity expert who is crisscrossing the country drafting hackers into battling misinformation like it’s malware. We also took a look at a group of former Facebook employees who helped Donald Trump win the White House in 2016 and now, four years later, are working to bring him down. What we found was, sure, pretty sobering. But it also led us to think that, if only we make it through these next six weeks, our democracy could come out stronger than ever. These stories appear in our latest magazine issue, on newsstands now. Subscribe to get WIRED delivered to your door.   How We'll Know the Election Wasn't Rigged BY LILY HAY NEWMAN Whether you're casting a ballot in person or by mail, there's plenty to worry about. Mass voter fraud shouldn't be on the list.   Stacey Abrams on How We'll Beat Back Voter Suppression BY GILAD EDELMAN The former Democratic candidate for Georgia governor talks democracy, election tech, and why speaking Klingon doesn't always help. As told to Gilad Edelman.   The Facebook Defectors Turning Trump's Strategy Against Him BY ARIELLE PARDES The platform was key to the president's upset victory in 2016. Can a group of former employees use it to boost Joe Biden?   A Texas County Clerk's Bold Crusade to Transform How We Vote BY BENJAMIN WOFFORD How Dana DeBeauvoir set off the biggest, weirdest, and most promising revolution in election technology since the 1800s.   One Data Scientist's Quest to Quash Misinformation BY SONNER KEHRT Sara-Jayne Terp uses the tools of cybersecurity to track false claims like they're malware. Her goal: Stop dangerous lies from hacking our beliefs.   The International Playbook for Foiling Russian Interference BY ANDY GREENBERG The Kremlin has meddled in so many elections that democracy's immune system has gotten wise to its threats. Here are lessons other countries can teach us.   The Cyber-Avengers Protecting Hospitals From Ransomware BY SONNER KEHRT As medical facilities strain amid the pandemic, they're especially vulnerable to cyberattacks. A global coalition of volunteer experts has stepped into the breach.   YouTube's Plot to Silence Conspiracy Theories BY CLIVE THOMPSON From flat-earthers to QAnon to Covid quackery, the video giant is awash in misinformation. Can AI keep the lunatic fringe from going viral?     This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or manage your newsletter subscriptions