Artificial intelligence is new, but change in how campaigns and elections operate is not.
Candidates, campaign staff and election administrators have always adapted to new technologies, be it political ads popping up in the mid-20th century or more recently as anonymous cryptocurrency contributions became an option.
With the recent emergence of multiple AI programs that can produce realistic images, videos and voices in a matter of seconds, both campaigns and state policymakers are adjusting.
People have long attempted to alter or misrepresent media to influence an election. Some states have criminal impersonation laws that were enacted before the advent of the internet, which may apply to AI impersonations. See Wis. Stat. §12.05, enacted in 1976.
In 2023, legislation may use different terms such as “deepfake”, “synthetic media” or “deceptive media” when referring to AI. These terms all refer to what people commonly think of as AI but may have different implications depending on what term is used and how statute defines it.
This webpage includes two tables below. The first table captures statutes governing the use of AI in campaigns and elections. The second includes introduced legislation from 2023 relating to AI in campaigns and elections. For a list of 2024 legislation, please contact elections-info@ncsl.org. For information on state legislation relating to AI broadly, please see Legislation Related to Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence 2023 Legislation.