What does election security look like in DE?

Election security in Delaware relies on high-tech like machine learning to detect suspicious patterns, but it’s low-tech, too: No voting booth can be connected to the internet, bluetooth or any other source of electric communications. 

I spoke with the Delaware Department of Technology and Information CSO Solomon Adote ahead of the primaries.

➡️ Read the interview here

UD is embracing AI for creating study tools

This semester is a first for the University of Delaware as it rolls out a new AI platform for faculty called Study AiDE. It helps create study guides for students using 20 years of archived lectures. 

I spoke with two of the technologists behind it, Jevonia “Nova” Harris and Erin Sicuranza.

➡️ Learn more about UD’s AI study tool

One of the industry’s most impactful events

Tens of thousands of women and nonbinary technologists will convene in Philly for the annual Grace Hopper Celebration this October.

Named after Rear Admiral Grace Hopper — one of the first women to receive a doctorate in mathematics — GHC 24 brings together technologists for networking and professional development, and to recognize the work women and nonbinary people are doing in the industry. With a stacked lineup of speakers and sessions, it’s a place to hear from like-minded professionals and uncover insights into the next big trends.

➡️  Join the community in Philly and virtually, Oct. 8-11

News Incubator: What else to know today

• Spotlight Delaware is running a new Election Day live blog as it canvases precincts up and down the state. The blog will run through today’s primary elections. [Spotlight Delaware]

• The Creative Vision Factory has been officially reborn as Recovery Café, located in Wilmington’s Little Italy. The new daytime drop-in offers a safe space and resources for anyone in the community seeking support for issues like addiction, domestic abuse and homelessness. [Delaware Public Media/Technical.ly]

• Five Delaware bills aimed at fighting climate change have just become law. One lays out a plan for moving forward with offshore wind farm contracts. [Delaware Public Media]

• Beach fave Surf Bagel is expanding to its first New Castle County location at the Dove Run Shopping Center in Middletown. Surfers Dave and Tom Vitella founded the NYC-style bagel shop in 2004 and sold it to Lewes-based SoDel Concepts in 2021. [Delaware Business Times]

• HBCU Delaware State University and science electronics manufacturing company Agilent celebrate three years of a STEM partnership that has offered internships and opportunities for students from underrepresented communities. Since 2022, the partnership has provided $3 million in scholarships. [Town Square Delaware/Technical.ly]

• How stressed are we? According to a recent WalletHub report, Wilmington and Dover are among the most stressed cities in the US, ranking at No. 25 and No. 62, respectively. Regionally, we’re even more stressed out: Philly ranks sixth. [Delaware Online]

• School is in, and Dover High’s student body of over 1,800 students is steadily growing. But so is the number of vacant jobs in its Capital School District, which is currently looking to fill 135 positions. [WDEL]

🗓️ On the Calendar

• Friday, Sept. 13 — Book Talk with Don Lemon at Wilmington Library [Details]

• Saturday, Sept. 14 — Chancery Market’s Sip and Shop on the patio [Details]

• Saturday, Sept. 14 — Festival Hispano Wilmington [Details]

• Saturday, Sept. 14 — Soul of the City Festival at The Grand Opera House [Details]

• Saturday, Sept. 14 — Beer Fest at Constitution Yards [Details]

• Tuesday, Sept. 17 — Free Networking Mixer at the Post in Wilmington  [Details]

• Thursday, Sept. 19 — ChristianaCare talk: Unleashing Creativity: Generative AI and the future of UX [Details]

• Partner event: 1682 makes it’s post-COVID return on Oct. 18. Hosted in Center City at the fun Five Below HQ, the ticketed event ($500-$650) features a full day of workshops, panels and more on how AI and innovation are impacting the tech scene. [Register]

Before you go…

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Some voters interviewed at polling places Tuesday mentioned Hall-Long’s troubles but others did not.

Prina Read, of New Castle, said Meyer was her choice.

“Obviously, Delaware as a whole is a much bigger platform and much more territory to cover than New Castle County,’’ Read said. “I think he’s proven his ability to be a good governor.”

Ramada Chapman, of Wilmington, also voted for Meyer.

“It got a little dicey even up to like the last 24 hours but I do think it’s Matt’s time,” Chapman said. “I think he’s done the work to work up to it. And I think it’s time for some fresh leadership with integrity.”

Khaleb Freeman, of Wilmington, said he voted for Hall-Long.

“I kind of fell in love with her personality and who she represented,’’ Freeman said. “I feel like she represents a newer generation in her own way and bringing forth new ideas.”

Kimberly Livington, of the Millcreek area, said she would have voted for Hall-Long but for “the recent scandals” and instead chose O’Mara.

Hall-Long faced revolt in her own campaign after launch

Hall-Long, by virtue of winning two statewide races for lieutenant governor, was widely viewed by political observers as the frontrunner when she announced her candidacy last September, and Carney immediately endorsed her.

At the time, Meyer was her only opponent, having declared his candidacy three months earlier. While Meyer had won two New Castle County races, the Wilmington native and resident was a relatively unknown candidate in Kent and Sussex counties, where about 130,000 of the state’s 351,000 registered Democrats live. Hall-Long, by contrast, hails from Sussex County.

But the race to replace Carney took a dramatic turn within days of Hall-Long’s launch when she abruptly suspended fundraising. That occurred within days of her campaign launch, and forced the cancellation of a handful of events, including one Carney was supposed to host.

Hall-Long’s campaign initially told some supporters she was dealing with a “personal, private matter.’’ But she soon announced that a review of her campaign finances she launched had found “there may have been reporting issues that require attention.” The lieutenant governor promised that forensic accountants would “thoroughly audit’’ her campaign receipts and spending.

What Hall-Long didn’t announce, however, was that her campaign and fundraising managers, plus other staffers and volunteers, had bolted from her team after discovering that more than $207,000 had been paid to her husband and campaign treasurer, Dana Long. The revolt, based on insider accounts, was revealed in a November WHYY News investigation.

The WHYY News story came days after the lieutenant governor said an audit had found she had been sloppy in recording $308,000 in loans that she — not her husband — had made to her campaigns since 2016, and $207,000 in repayments. Dana Long, who was not named as the recipient of the $207,000, was replaced as treasurer and Hall-Long said she would not seek to recoup the $101,000 loan balance.

Yet Hall-Long resisted calls by Meyer, Common Cause of Delaware, and others to release the so-called audit, insisting the issues were behind her and the campaign was back in stride.

Instead, the University of Delaware professor stressed to voters that she was well-equipped and prepared to be the first nurse to become a U.S. governor, and the second woman to hold the post in Delaware.

Carney, who had decided to run for mayor of Wilmington and won Tuesday’s Democratic primary, never held a fundraiser for his handpicked successor. Carney did, however, continue supporting her bid to succeed him, and even recorded a video promoting her candidacy.

What questions do you have about the 2024 elections? What major issues do you want candidates to address? Let us know.

This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

It’s primary election day in the First State, and tens of thousands of Delawareans will head to the polls to cast their vote. But many people avoided what could be long lines and took advantage of the last early voting day on Sunday, including voters in New Castle County.

In June, the Delaware Supreme Court struck down a lower court ruling that barred early voting and permanent absentee voting in the state’s general elections. Lawmakers passed a law in 2019 that allowed 10 days of early voting beginning in 2022. The permanent absentee law was approved in 2010. Early voting and permanent absentee voting in primaries and special elections is already allowed.

Department of Elections data shows at least 839 New Castle County residents cast ballots on Sunday at six locations in the area, including 233 voters at two sites in  Wilmington. An enthusiastic crowd of activists and candidates mingled together a short distance from the entrance of the Police Athletic League polling location in Northwest Wilmington, waving signs to promote their campaign or their preferred candidates.

Candidate for Wilmington mayor Velda Jones-Potter and gubernatorial candidate Matt Meyer showed up at the PAL polling site to greet supporters, cast their ballots and energize their base.

Jones-Potter said she was on-site to encourage her supporters to vote and make sure they didn’t experience any trouble casting ballots.

The Department of Elections acknowledged last week that 764 affected voters statewide who were registered automatically through the Department of Motor Vehicles were given incorrect party identification due to a “clerical error.” Of the 764, 328 voters reside in New Castle County and 87 in the city of Wilmington. A DOE spokesperson said the only calls they received were from the PAL Center, all of the affected registrations have been updated, no one had been turned away and everyone has been allowed to vote.

Jones-Potter disputed the agency’s response Sunday.

“I do take exception to two things that the Department of Elections has communicated to the public. One is that no one was turned away. A number of people were, in fact, turned away. Some of them have had the opportunity to vote since, but not everyone,” she said. “And then the second exception that I take is that it’s limited to just a few people, unless and until we know exactly what the cause was. Does it affect absentee ballots?”

The elections department said Tuesday no absentee ballots were impacted by the clerical error.