start	end	text
2200	9280	Greetings. It's great to be here, even though I'm not there and we're not in Vegas. Well,
9280	15800	maybe you are, but I'm not. And after years of pilgrimage to Vegas and DEF CON and other
15800	24320	security conferences, primarily to speak about, well, privacy and security and inevitably
25840	34780	Bitcoin, I never imagined that I would be doing this virtually, especially not for the voting
34780	41520	villages or voting village rather than the crypto and privacy villages where I normally hang out.
42020	47820	But with that said, I have spent significant time in the voting village and I've even included a
47820	54300	couple of photos in this presentation to help bring us back to our in-person DEF CON days.
54320	63220	Which we will surely return to. But for now, our virtual CON is our reality. So I hope this
63220	71940	presentation helps to educate you and brighten your summer in safe mode. Please find me on Twitter
71940	79540	if you have any questions. I'm at Cordero underscore ESQ. And with all that out of the way,
79540	91610	let's get into it. A lawyer's reflections on elections. Let's get into it. So who is Cordero?
92030	98690	That's me, the lawyer speaking now, providing reflections to those that will listen.
99270	104890	And without reiterating my entire biography, I want to quickly go through a couple of these points.
104890	109990	I'm a partner at Sublime Law, which focuses on business and intellectual property.
110500	118830	I lead our emerging technologies practice group. And before joining Sublime Law, I worked at a
118830	125630	forensics and cybersecurity professional services firm in Silicon Valley, as well as a large U.S.
125630	133670	law firm, where I focused on privacy. I graduated ASU Law with honors, focusing on law, science,
133670	143230	and technology. And I worked at ASU's innovation advancement program. But most relevant for today,
143850	150510	I'm a former political candidate that has a story to tell that is part of a larger and
150510	161670	more important narrative than any single election race or election case. So what will we not be
161670	168010	going over today? What's not on the agenda? I will not be making a political statement
168010	175670	in support of any party. I won't be litigating any lawsuit or critiquing any judicial officer.
176550	181850	So with that out of the way, let's get into the agenda of reflections.
184590	189590	First, I'm going to explain the structure of the American government,
189590	196410	including state and federal similarities. Second, I'm going to introduce how my lawsuit came to be,
196410	200870	the origins of the campaign, and the lawsuit that followed.
201070	208570	Three, I'm going to highlight issues and share the oddities of election law that I learned along
208570	216050	the way. And fourth, I'm going to share some information and some resources for your reference.
216050	222470	And finally, as you can see on the bottom, the overall objective here is to educate
222470	228310	and broaden the community of people that can become experts in how the system works
228310	236880	so they can help improve it over time. Getting into it, democracy now.
237540	242770	You may already know that the U.S. federal system has three branches of government.
243450	249750	And to keep things simple and to appeal to DEFCON's global audience, this slide represents
249750	256350	how the U.S. Constitution, through its different articles, structures the federal government.
256990	263190	This system of co-equal branches of government is meant to accomplish an appropriate balance of
263190	270050	powers, thereby achieving a level of accountability and independence that is good for governance.
270930	279450	You can think of these branches of government as the rule makers, rule enforcers,
279450	287270	and rule interpreters. But there's more to the U.S. than the federal national government.
287330	294470	There are state and local governments. The states follow a similar structure of government,
294470	299310	using a state constitution and establishing co-equal branches of government.
300050	307590	But what is more important to understand is that these local state governments are
307590	313630	typically much more impactful than the federal government in terms of your everyday life.
313630	322330	So how do the national and state local governments share power? Let's take a look.
323690	332810	Wow, this one might make your eyes glaze over, but stay with me. We know from before that it is
332810	338690	the constitutions that inform us as to the sharing of powers between the federal and state
338690	345830	local government. For instance, as you can see on the bottom of this slide, the 10th Amendment of
345830	351930	the U.S. Constitution declares, as we'll discuss more later, the, and I quote,
351930	358450	the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
358450	365850	states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. That's a mouthful and a very
365850	374450	old sentence. We're talking 1776, right? So what does that mean? In other words,
374450	380110	states have all powers not granted to the federal government under the Constitution.
380870	385610	So conveniently, this slide gives some examples of the sharing of powers
385610	392510	via exclusive and concurrent powers. And what should really be a Venn diagram,
392510	399550	but let's just focus on this slide from left to right. The exclusive federal powers are things
399550	406690	like coining money and declaring war, conducting foreign affairs. In the middle, we've got
406690	413550	concurrent and shared powers, and those are things like taxation and establishing courts.
414090	419990	And finally, on the right, we have exclusive state powers, like conducting elections. And that's a
419990	427690	little bit of a gray area because the federal government does have some administration
427690	434990	aspects related to elections. And I wouldn't really call it a completely exclusive state power,
434990	441710	but the states do control the elections and how they proceed. There's also providing for public
442270	449050	safety, health, and welfare. But the point of showing this slide is to demonstrate
449510	456330	that state and local governments have much more power to influence communities than is often
456330	463610	expected by its citizens. So let's explore some of those local powers some more.
465490	473590	The impact lies locally. Just take a minute to take in the amount of powers and responsibility
473590	481530	that is delegated to local authorities. We have budgeting, prioritizing, human resource functions,
481530	490830	program management, taxation, ordinances and resolutions, charter and constitutional amendments,
490830	496510	zoning and land use and eminent domain, regulating public health and safety,
496510	502090	as we previously discussed, and liaisoning to other governments.
502810	509850	But for today, we want to focus on elections. So now that we've briefly examined some of the
509850	515890	structural foundations of the American government, we have arrived at our next point on this journey
515890	522730	of learning. And that is the second point in the agenda. Stories from my own campaign
523350	531450	and related lawsuit while seeking a seat on the local city council of the city of Peoria, Arizona,
532050	539210	not Peoria, Illinois, for all the Midwesterners listening. Shout out to Sec KC, by the way.
541830	549810	So why run? Well, I hope that the previous slides have established,
549810	556470	at least in part, that running for local office can provide a great platform to bring positive
556470	563350	influence to your community. And specifically, on this slide is my answer in quotes to this
563350	569470	question of why run that I gave to the local newspaper, Peoria Times. I talked about my
569470	574970	campaign platform, community safety, more engagement, and better protection of people's
574970	581590	opportunities and legal rights. I also talked about my qualifications as a lawyer and my
581590	588750	connection to the community. But what isn't on this slide or in the newspaper is clarification
588750	593870	of what kind of candidate I was and how that impacted my chances of winning.
594610	601170	And I don't mean what kind of candidate I was in terms of person or party affiliation,
601170	608990	but from a procedural perspective. That is to say, I was a write-in candidate.
610630	615890	To understand write-in candidates, think of Kanye West.
616450	622110	He would most likely be considered a write-in candidate for the 2020 presidential election,
622110	627930	but he would not be considered an official write-in candidate because he probably has not
627930	634110	filed the necessary paperwork. Just as individuals often write-in candidates like
634110	639710	Jesus or Mickey Mouse, these candidates are not official. They cannot serve
640610	649010	if they get the requisite number of votes. This is because they haven't complied with the other
649570	653490	rules and regulations or filing of paperwork that might be necessary.
653870	661330	So I was an official write-in, meaning that votes for me would count and meaning that I filled out
661330	669350	the extra necessary paperwork. But why was I a write-in? It's an unusual election that I took
669350	677050	part in and it also coincided with an unusual and unfortunate time in my own life, but I nonetheless
677050	689200	found it important to carry on as you'll see in the next slide. Despite the fact that most
689200	696220	write-in candidates lose their elections, why continue? Well, as was noted by my alma mater
696220	702960	here on the right side of the slide, I felt compelled. But more importantly, why I felt
702960	710100	compelled was because of my care for the community and to carry on what others before me had started.
710740	717940	For instance, Carlo Rocky Leon, who became a sort of mentor to myself and my sibling,
717940	722720	had received honors from the National League of Cities and earned the respect of his constituents
723420	730440	in my city for over 20 years. I wanted to carry that legacy forward and I would get that opportunity
730440	739140	to try in 2018, or rather 2019. But let's first start with 2018.
740020	749020	Background to the 2018 race, which I did not take part in. As I mentioned,
749020	756240	someone I looked up to, Rocky, who was the Pine District Councilman for so long,
756680	765100	he actually won the 2018 race, which I did not partake in. But unfortunately, a few months into
765100	771820	it, Rocky's term was cut short and due to health reasons, he was forced to resign.
772820	778780	So this brings us to the background to the 2019 special election race.
781420	784660	You can see there are two ballot candidates, Danette on the left
784660	790780	and Randall on the right. And there's me, the write-in candidate, in the middle. This story
790780	803680	gets a bit more complex. During the election, Reigns drops out for health reasons and it is
803680	809040	reported that he has said about his medically forced withdrawal that having a very qualified
809040	814340	write-in candidate makes his decision a little easier. This will allow the voters to have a
814340	823010	choice in this election. Hopeful for voter choice? You can see Reigns' quote there,
823010	830030	on the left and on the right. And perhaps Mr. Reigns knew something that I didn't at that time.
830050	836590	In fact, it's interesting to note that Mr. Reigns was passed over by the sitting Peoria Council,
836590	843410	who made Danette Dunn the interim council member and seemingly favored Dunn after publicly backing
843410	850890	her at events in the 2018 race that she lost. Thus, it's very possible that Mr. Reigns may
850890	860390	have already been aware of something afoot. But what was it? And this brings us to the controversy.
861350	865810	Might not have been what Mr. Reigns was thinking about, but he was concerned with the city
868130	877410	providing choice to its constituents. And I'd like to begin talking about this lawsuit by reading
877410	883990	the introductory paragraph of our complaint, because this gives the high-level story of the
883990	889950	lawsuit from my perspective. Though other lawyers may simply call it hyperbole, the ones listening
889950	899050	in on the voting village will probably not. I quote, most election experts across the United
899050	905630	States of America agree that our election processes are vulnerable in a variety of ways.
905670	912870	These are not limited to attacks on elections from outsiders. In fact, this statement of contest
912870	919310	concerns an unscrupulous internal attack and misinformation campaign that led to an election
919310	924870	result that is believed to be illegitimate. Indeed, a democratic state necessitates that
924870	930570	its citizens are adequately informed by the state, or at a minimum, are not misled or misinformed
930570	938330	by the state about election matters. So what really happened? You can see something there
938330	946690	on the right about a postcard. And we'll definitely get to that. But the allegations
946690	953430	against the city are many and should be viewed as cumulative. The allegations range from enforcing
953430	961590	inaccurate and outdated sign regulations against my campaign, withholding voter data, improperly
961590	969110	removing my campaign signs, inciting my campaign volunteers for irrelevant code violations.
971530	977690	However, one of the primary controversies as it relates to this special election in 2019
978890	985210	is about a postcard. And specifically, the city overstepped its responsibility
986110	992070	and improperly did so, not in accordance with the letter of the law, by sending out a postcard under
992310	998550	a pretext of an update, when that update clearly helped the city's preferred candidate over all
998550	1004870	others. Essentially, the city of Peoria, despite having an agreement with the Secretary of State
1004870	1011570	to handle the election procedures, took it upon themselves to release a postcard not in line with
1011570	1019510	the letter of law on or around the day that the ballots arrived. As you can see on the right side
1019510	1025610	of the slide, the postcard, which the court ultimately confirmed was sent to voters not in
1025610	1032010	accordance with the letter of the law, appeared to many voters to be confusing and as an endorsement
1032010	1039730	of the other candidate. For the record, this was an all-mail-in election. And what's extra notable
1040440	1047660	is that in order to win in the primary, you must win by a certain percentage, 50% plus one.
1047990	1053850	And this is important because if there isn't a conclusive winner, then the general election
1053850	1060790	would need to happen and all candidates would be on the ballot, including the write-in candidate
1060790	1069510	myself. So in that context, the content of the postcard becomes very clear in its motives,
1069510	1078250	especially its timing. The postcard contained a message that wasn't meant to simply inform
1079470	1086090	of all candidates. In fact, it didn't inform of all candidates. It was meant to partially inform
1086090	1093630	of candidate updates and ultimately discourage wasted votes on one candidate in exchange
1094410	1097910	for the other known candidate on the ballot.
1099690	1109860	Let's take a closer look. As you can see here, on the left is the law. This is a part of our
1109860	1115580	complaint. And on the right is instructions that the Secretary of State, not the City of Peoria,
1115580	1124700	the Secretary of State provided. And you can see the law in ARS 16343G, which is excerpt on the
1124700	1133160	left side of the slide in our complaint, requires that notice of withdrawn candidates shall be made
1133160	1140060	available by providing with the early ballot instructions, the things on the right, a website
1140060	1147640	address for information regarding withdrawn and write-in candidates. So on the right side,
1147640	1153720	look what was provided by the Secretary of State. It's circled right there, a website address for
1153720	1163400	updates about candidates. This follows the law. But this wasn't all that was done. This is all
1163400	1170080	that should have been done. But let's look to the next slide to see what the city actually did
1170080	1175920	in terms of notice to its voters, which we already know was in addition to what the state
1175920	1185630	election law provides, right here on this slide. So the postcard is on the right.
1186370	1192670	And the details are clearly more than what is required. It states how Mr. Raines is no longer
1192850	1200810	a candidate and that votes towards him will not count. Don't waste your vote on him. He's not,
1200810	1206630	he's out of the race. So the implication here is if you want your vote to count, it's to vote
1206630	1211830	for a single person on the ballot. Then that's done. Or simply abstain from voting because
1212370	1221430	a lack of awareness of another candidate. Notably, write-in candidates have the biggest challenge of
1223750	1228630	really marketing and letting people know that you're out there and you're
1228630	1234190	in the race and you are wanting to represent their interests. And
1236790	1247490	to have this postcard come out and simply provide what seems to be a partial update,
1248050	1253310	not in accordance with the letter of the law. From my vantage point, this is a clear violation
1253310	1259730	of law. It's not just not the letter, it's a violation. And the court agreed insofar as the
1259730	1266350	city was not following the letter of the law. But as you'll see, that didn't matter much in the end.
1266670	1283390	So what did I request as a remedy anyways? I wanted the results set aside. I wanted to
1283390	1287810	organize a general election as scheduled and required if primaries are inconclusive.
1288590	1294310	And to get on the ballot of any new election. And crucially, I wanted to stop officials from
1294310	1301710	exerting improper influence or engaging in misconduct. But what's really important to
1301710	1308770	understand is that I did not want to file this lawsuit against my hometown. This is
1310610	1317750	a painful experience, one that was awkward. And ultimately, just as I felt compelled to run as a
1317750	1323910	writing candidate, I felt compelled to file this lawsuit for my community and the hundreds of
1323910	1331810	individuals that wrote my name on the ballot. Correctly, I might add, which is a feat. And
1331810	1335510	because I saw something that I thought was wrong, I thought it was a violation,
1335510	1341190	I wanted to have a judge take a look at it and make a determination for the betterment of our
1341190	1347850	election system. But that's not exactly how the press covered the story. And it's not how the
1347850	1357560	city viewed the lawsuit either. So as you might expect, the city of Peoria maintained that they
1357560	1363600	did nothing wrong. The city of Peoria and interim council member Dunn sought dismissal of the
1363600	1369480	action. The city went as far as claiming that the court didn't have jurisdiction over the city
1369480	1377880	due to perceived lack of service of process. And I'm not going to go into
1379880	1384520	why I don't agree with those arguments, but I will go into some of the procedure.
1384840	1389880	And this is for all the legal nerds out there. The case was set for a hearing on a motion to
1389880	1396460	dismiss, but we ultimately received an expedited hearing on the merits after informing the judge
1396460	1404260	through another emergency filing that the case was an election contest. And that we were entitled
1404260	1410680	to an evidentiary hearing on the merits of the case within 10 days, according to Arizona law.
1411020	1418180	The judge agreed and we were eventually offered an evidentiary hearing, but we were ultimately
1418180	1424220	not successful, despite that we believe there were multiple violations of law and that the city
1424220	1430800	admitted in court for the application of inaccurate election-related regulations against my campaign.
1430800	1437360	Moreover, the press was not particularly kind, making the lawsuit appear frivolous and as a
1437360	1444760	waste of resources, so much so that I was getting additional hate mail. Something you just get used
1444760	1453220	to as a politician or a would-be politician, I guess. Also, what's critical is that the judge
1453220	1461320	did not believe the lawsuit was frivolous and did not order me to pay the city or Dunn's attorney's
1461320	1475140	fee. I guess that's a small win. So, before discussing lessons learned, I want to turn to
1476300	1482220	Montesquieu on the spirit of laws, because it is relevant to how I feel in this instance as,
1482220	1488120	well, they follow the spirit of the law, not the letter. But it's also relevant because it
1488120	1494520	was required reading for our founding father. Montesquieu writes in reference to a brutal state
1494520	1500300	with not much of a procedural due process in terms of a legal system,
1500300	1508040	I quote, for one to have the passions of pleaders would be quite dangerous. The passions presuppose
1508040	1516160	an ardent desire to see justice done, a hatred and active spirit, and a steadfastness in pursuit
1516160	1522840	of justice. To me, this quote stands out because I believe I was perceived as a threat, a political
1522840	1528880	one, and upon making my pleadings be known in court, I was considered even more so, despite
1528880	1536660	that in my heart, spirit, and action, I was simply seeking justice for the people. Maybe that is
1536660	1544200	exactly why. But just as the local paper's quotes of mine on this slide demonstrate, despite
1544200	1551720	disagreeing with the decision, I decided to move on and not appeal for practical reasons like money
1551720	1561300	and time and futileness. Or perhaps, as in the words again of Montesquieu, each man
1561300	1567940	should know that the magistrate must not hear of him and that he owes his safety only to his
1567940	1578940	nothingness. So, no appeal. Alas, all said and done, I consider this lawsuit a small victory
1578940	1584820	towards ensuring election integrity, and I hope the lawsuit encourages others to file similar
1584820	1591540	legal actions. It should be noted here that if you're a voter, you probably have legal standing
1591540	1598640	to sue. You don't have to have skin in the game like I did. So, if you see or experience suspicious
1598640	1606040	activities or misconduct during an election, say something. Now we can get into the bigger picture
1606660	1621370	and lessons learned. So, this personal experience that I wouldn't really wish on anyone made me dig
1621370	1628610	deeper into our electoral system. And from my research and experience, it has become increasingly
1628610	1636770	clear that many human and structural problems exist, including how the branches of government
1636770	1641470	share power related to elections and the jurisprudence related to how the courts decide
1641470	1649610	matters of importance concerning election issues. Although I do not bring forward a complete solution,
1649610	1655410	below are some of the primary issues that I believe we need to address as a society to ensure
1655810	1662690	a more secure and fair democracy. We need to implement strong federal standards for protecting
1662690	1669810	voting rights and eliminate pretexts for stacking the deck. The case that really comes to mind is
1669810	1676690	Roosh versus Common Cause, which is a 2019 Supreme Court case involving North Carolina
1676690	1681770	and Maryland racial gerrymandering, which is, of course, redrawing of district lines
1681770	1694210	to have a political guarantee of seats, say. And the court ruled against the plaintiffs,
1694750	1701830	finding that the partisan advantage is actually permissible in terms of intent
1702470	1709910	behind districting choices, because this issue is to be left with the legislature
1710870	1718090	and not to be decided with the courts. And the turning point for the decision was,
1718090	1722330	there are no legal standards that are discernible.
1727050	1732290	And they turn to fairness, and they say, fairness, as you can see on the slide,
1732290	1740270	fairness is not a judicially manageable standard. And I find that
1741870	1750870	to be untrue, because courts sit in fairness and equity all the time. So a decision like this,
1750870	1755250	it makes a lot of people cringe. And I believe this was a 5-4 decision, meaning it was really
1755250	1763250	close. And that means our Supreme Court justices were not in agreement. And so hopefully this case
1763250	1769690	gets revisited along with some other cases. But I don't have time to go into a whole lot of other
1769690	1775170	cases. But what I would like to discuss is the pandemic election litigation happening in 2020.
1775170	1781710	And as of right now, there are dozens and perhaps maybe by now hundreds of cases
1781710	1788010	that over the past few months, have been just ticking up in terms of numbers. And this really
1788010	1795210	spells trouble. It could either be a good or a bad thing. It means people are fighting inequities.
1796310	1804930	Or, and I guess there's each dispute will have a side to it. I just hope that a lot of these
1804930	1812830	pandemic election litigations get resolved in the proper way. Because these are dealing with
1812830	1823810	things like, how do high risk individuals in a pandemic, in a hotspot, accomplish voting safely?
1824070	1831890	This is not something that America should really be struggling with in 2020. It seems
1832450	1842930	it seems beneath us. And I really implore all those that are still listening to speak up about
1842930	1851870	these election fairness issues, and voting rights and become more knowledgeable on these topics.
1851870	1858530	I'm not the top expert in this field. I'm a privacy lawyer, data protection lawyer.
1859090	1864550	This is something I learned almost on accident. And so for all those that aren't on the front
1864550	1870650	lines of the litigation, let's go to the bottom of this slide. I would say get involved in the
1870650	1876210	fight for democracy and more secure elections by getting involved in different organizations,
1876210	1881950	like support fighting election disinformation, which is what the election and integrity
1881950	1888670	partnership is doing, EIP. And I love this idea because they are not focused on the candidates,
1888670	1895210	what the candidates are saying. They're focused on content. So not necessarily political content,
1895210	1902250	but content intended to suppress voting, reduce participation, focus or confuse voters as to
1902250	1910690	election processes, or delegitimize election results without evidence. These are certainly
1911270	1918610	big ticket items and challenges in 2020, especially with November, right around the
1918610	1928130	corner. And with so much misinformation out there, not simply by, as in this case,
1928130	1933570	it was alleged that the misinformation was coming from the government. And I think that's happening
1933570	1940030	probably throughout the government of the United States. But I think as it relates to a lot of
1940030	1948030	disinformation, we have to be very wary of things we're seeing online. So do your part in
1948030	1954730	encouraging others to be careful, those that might not be so digitally savvy as those that
1954730	1960530	might be listening to this presentation. So I really want to close this with some concluding
1960530	1967670	thoughts and not get too hung up on a lot of the other cautionary tales that are out there.
1967670	1973630	And clearly, as I mentioned, there's dozens and dozens of them that are playing out in the courts
1973630	1980490	right now. So be on the lookout for those things. Be aware of these things that are happening
1980490	1991070	and speak up against them when you can. So to conclude here, this story and experience,
1991070	1996810	it didn't make me lose faith in democracy. It wasn't a negative experience. There were
1996810	2003750	negative aspects of it, that's for sure. There were painful moments. But speaking to
2005290	2012490	constituents that felt like they were misled by the city, and they're asking you to help fix it,
2012490	2020210	that was something, again, I felt compelled to do. And I did it. And we fought the fought,
2020210	2028230	but we lost those battles. And I think the war is still raging on. So these are two lost battles,
2028370	2036190	a lost election and a lost litigation. But I did learn a lot. It was a journey of learning.
2036390	2042870	And I didn't think I needed it as a lawyer. But I did. And I'm glad I endured this.
2042930	2048350	And some of the lessons that I learned are listed here. So we can read through the slide together.
2048350	2054470	Democracy is not perfect, right? It's made up of humans. You get things wrong. And it's not
2054470	2059230	just institutions, right? It's not just separation of powers. And that's it. Everything's okay.
2059570	2065310	And hackers know the persistent vulnerabilities of humans in pursuit of securing any information
2065310	2070810	system. So it should make sense to you all here that humans need monitored closely,
2070810	2077250	especially when democracy is at stake. Strengthening voting rights and securing
2077250	2082850	elections will require hard work and advocacy, which usually means money and lawyers and
2082850	2090310	lots of it and them, for better or worse. And election litigation, as I've come to find out,
2090310	2096390	is a beast of its own. Remember, I'm a data protection lawyer and not an election lawyer.
2097010	2102310	This happened by accident. And knowing the importance of these cases,
2102870	2106450	these election cases and the expedited schedules for resolution,
2107030	2116490	makes this fight for democracy very difficult without experts. So if you see something,
2117010	2126290	say something. If you're involved in helping advocate for voter rights and you see something
2126290	2131190	or you run for local office and you see something that you don't think is right,
2131190	2136710	reach out. Reach out to me. I may not be the person to help you, but reach out to somebody
2136710	2143670	that has more knowledge than you do. I perhaps would have done better in the litigation had I
2143670	2150670	sought out an election law lawyer early in the process, but that wasn't in the cards for me.
2150670	2156290	I hope it will be for you if you ever find yourself in such a bind. And here's the bonus
2156290	2161270	lesson. You might already know this one, but for those of you that get into politics, local
2161270	2168510	or otherwise, or find yourself, for whatever reason, speaking to the press, do not blindly
2168510	2175470	trust them. Usually they're not interested in telling your story or sometimes not even the
2175470	2180670	true story. And they are often interested in telling their own version of the story for their
2180670	2187290	reader base. And I can't hate them for that. They are making a living. That's their job. But do not
2187290	2196010	trust them blindly. It will do more damage to you than good. I would bet on that.
2196010	2204770	So thank you so much. And I'm happy that I had this opportunity to do this,
2204770	2210370	even if it was virtual. I really appreciate all of you that stuck it out and made it this
2210370	2215510	long. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. If you have questions, please reach out to me. And as you
2215510	2223250	can see here, my own lawyer on this case, who is also not an election lawyer on the left there,
2223250	2229310	Brittany, is another sublime law attorney. And she's here with me on the left there
2230330	2237630	at DEFCON 27 Voting Village. And we will return. So if you see us, make sure to say hello. We will
2237630	2244830	definitely stop into the Voting Village and try to gain some additional knowledge as the years go
2244830	2251410	on. So thank you all and have a great and fantastic rest of your summer.