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While Election Disinformation Ran Rampant, Conn. Election Officials Stopped Monitoring

Conn. Secretary of the State Denise Merrill
Jessica Hill
/
AP
Conn. Secretary of the State Denise Merrill

Connecticut’s Secretary of the State hired an intelligence analyst to combat online disinformation about voter fraud and the 2020 presidential election. The analyst contract ended in November, while misinformation about a stolen election ran rampant.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill hired the intelligence analyst with federal grants intended to ramp up election efforts.

Gabe Rosenberg is general counsel for Merrill. He told the Connecticut Mirror the grant largely went towards updating the state’s central voter registration system. He said the intelligence analyst’s reports on misinformation would be helpful, but his department needs funding from state lawmakers to hire someone full time.

Connecticut State Police run a central intelligence center that monitors online misinformation. Right now, it does not share reports with the Secretary of the State.

Cassandra Basler, a former senior editor at WSHU, came to the station by way of Columbia Journalism School in New York City. When she's not reporting on wealth and poverty, she's writing about food and family.