On November 14, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm David Huitema as Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (O.G.E.).

By a vote of 50-46, the Huitema appointment to O.G.E., which oversees the executive branch ethics program in more than 140 agencies, is for a five-year term.

A director serves at the will of the president and could be removed by President-elect Trump upon taking office.

Huitema will replace Acting Director Shelley K. Finlayson, who took the position when the term of the previous director, Emory Rounds, expired in July of last year.

On December 16, a federal by-election will be held for the seat in the House of Commons representing Cloverdale–Langley City in the province of British Columbia.

On June 3 , the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Stéphane Perrault, had received official notice from the Speaker of the House of Commons that the seat for Cloverdale–Langley City (British Columbia) became vacant following the resignation of John Aldag.

Aldag resigned on May 27 in order to run in a provincial election in British Columbia, which he subsequently lost.

The date for the election was not announced until November 10, which signaled the start of the by-election period.

On November 5, six of the ward seats for the Council of the District of Columbia City were up for election.

Incumbent Brooke Pinto won re-election for Washington D.C. City Council Ward 2.

Meanwhile, Janeese Lewis George won reelection to her seat unchallenged for the City Council Ward 4 seat.

Wendell Felder won the Ward 7 current held by outgoing incumbent Vincent Gray, who endorsed Felder in the Democratic Party primary against nine other candidates.

Trayon White, currently a member of council representing Ward 8, also won reelection.

Additionally, the two at-large seats were won by Robert White and Christina Henderson.

On November 5, Oye Owolewa won his third consecutive election as the District of Columbia’s Shadow Representative.

Unlike the District’s non-voting Delegate to the House, the Shadow Representative is not able to vote in both floor votes and committee votes and is not recognized as an actual member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Along with Owolewa’s goal to achieve statehood for the District, the underlying goal of all shadow representatives, he has expressed an objective of ending federal taxes for the District until it achieves full political representation.

Owelewa defeated the Republican Party candidate, Attorney Ciprian Ivanof.

On November 5, Ankit Jain was elected as the junior U.S. shadow Senator for the District of Columbia.

He defeated Republican Party candidate Nelson Rimensnyder.

Jain replaces Sen. Michael D. Brown, who chose not to run for reelection.

While not officially sworn in or seated with the U.S. Senate, the main goal is to seek voting representation in the U.S. Congress for the District.

The senior U.S. shadow Senator for the District is Paul Eric Strauss.

Neither Strauss nor Jain receives pay or have offices in the US Capitol.

On November 5, Democratic Party candidate Eleanor Holmes Norton won re-election to the district’s U.S. House Non-Voting Delegate seat for the District of Columbia.

Holmes, who has held the office since 1991, beat Republican Party candidate Myrtle Alexander and two other declared candidates.

In her position as a non-voting member of the House, Norton can perform most of the duties and responsibilities of members from states but may not vote for or against the final passage of legislation

On November 5, voters in the District of Columbia approved a voter initiative to implement ranked choice voting in primary and general elections and to allow for open primary elections.

The ballot measure, Initiative 83, entitled the “Ranked Choice Voting and Open the Primary Elections to Independent Voters Act of 2024,” implements ranked choice voting to allow voters to rank up to five candidates according to their preference in each contest for any office, other than for political party offices.

The measure also permits any voter who is not registered with a political party to vote in the primary election of that voter’s choosing for all offices, again, other than for political party offices.

Ranked choice voting begins with the June 2026 primary election and remains in effect for all subsequent elections.

It will apply to any primary, special, and general election involving three or more qualified candidates.

This Initiative will not be implemented unless the D.C. Council separately chooses to appropriate funds for the projected costs.

On October 27, writs of election were issued for the 42nd Provincial General Elections in Nova Scotia.

Election day will be held on Tuesday, November 26, 2024.

Chief Electoral Officer Dorothy Rice had received the order for the provincial general election to be held from the Governor in Council.

The writs of election cover the 55 electoral districts in the province.

Effective October 1, 2024, lobbyist registration fees with the District of Columbia Board of Ethics and Government Accountability (BEGA) will increase.

Registration will increase from $250 to $350 for registrants that are not nonprofit entities.

The registration fees for nonprofit registrants will increase from $50 to $100.

This only applies to nonprofits or lobbyists who lobby only for nonprofits.

BEGA states if one lobbies for many nonprofits and only one for-profit entity, the lobbyist is required to pay the $350 registration fee for each client, even the nonprofits.

The nonprofit organizations would pay $100 for their own registration.

Additionally, late filing fees will increase from $10 per day up to 30 days to $100 per day up to 60 days for a total of $6,000 per report.

If a person continues to fail to register or file a report after fines have been assessed, BEGA may bring the matter before the Ethics Board as an enforcement matter for willful failure to file or refer the matter to the Office of the Attorney General for collection of the fine.

Today, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) concluded the use of fraudulent misrepresentation utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) in federal campaign advertisements is already covered by existing campaign finance law.

Going forward, the Commission will proceed with any application of allegations of fraud using AI or other specific technologies under 52 U.S.C. §30124  on a case-by-case basis.

On July 13, 2023, a Petition for Rulemaking was submitted to the FEC asking it to undertake a rulemaking “to clarify that the law against ‘fraudulent misrepresentation’ (52 U.S.C. § 30124) applies to deliberately deceptive AI produced content in campaign communications.” The Federal Election Campaign Act currently prohibits any person from falsely representing that they are speaking, writing, or acting on behalf of a federal candidate or a political party for the purpose of soliciting contributions. The law also prohibits a candidate, his or her employee or agent, or an organization under the candidate’s control, from purporting to speak, write, or act for another candidate or political party on a matter that is damaging to the other candidate or party.

Through the Commission’s approval of two drafts of a Notification of Disposition, REG 2023-02 (Artificial Intelligence in Campaign Ads), and an Interpretive Rule Regarding 52 U.S.C. §30124, the Commission decided not to initiate a rulemaking.

Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum stated a clear answer has been given as to whether generative-AI applies to the existing campaign finance laws. In today’s FEC’s open meeting, Lindenbaum stated,  “Yes, the statute is technology neutral. So, I think we have given a very clear response today.”

On August 5, a proposed rule from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concerning transparency when using artificial intelligence(AI)-generated content in political advertising was published in the U.S. Federal Register.

The FCC’s proposal would require broadcasters to provide an on-air announcement for any political ad containing AI-generated content disclosing the use of such content in the ad.

This includes advertising for candidates and for issues.

The rule would apply to broadcast and satellite radio and television stations and services, cable operators, and certain permit holders transmitting programming.

The Commission is also proposing to require these licensees and regulatees to include a notice in their online political files for all political ads that include AI-generated content disclosing that the ad contains such content.

Public comments can be made on or before September 4, 2024, by mail or at the FCC’s website at https://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/.

On September 16, federal by-elections will be held in the electoral districts of Elmwood–Transcona (Manitoba) and LaSalle–Émard–Verdun (Quebec) to fill vacancies in the Canadian House of Commons.

On February 1, 2024, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Stéphane Perrault, received official notice from the Speaker of the House of Commons that the seat for LaSalle–Émard–Verdun (Quebec) was vacant.

Perrault subsequently received official notice of the vacancy of the federal seat for Elmwood–Transcona on April 3, 2024.

However, the dates for the election were not announced until Sunday, July 28.

David Lametti, who held the seat in LaSalle–Émard–Verdun (Quebec), had announced his retirement in January.

Daniel Blaikie resigned his seat for Elmwood–Transcona (Manitoba) at the end of March to work as an advisor to Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew.

The announcement date of the by-elections signals the start of the by-election period.

The Office of the Integrity Commissioner has updated the Ontario Lobbyists Registry to conform to a recent cabinet shuffle that resulted in changes to ministers’ titles and ministry name. Specifically, amendments to Ontario Regulation 146/10, Public Bodies and Commission Public Bodies, authorized under the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006, added five new agencies, removed 12 agencies, and changed the name of one of the agencies.

The electronic lobbyist registry will now automatically remove previous selections of the changed targets (ministries) from active registrations. However, the new or amended ministers’ offices and ministries will need to be manually selected by the registrants.

As an example from the Office, the “Ministry of Energy” will automatically be removed from active registrations. However, if a registrant is still lobbying this ministry, they are required to update their registrations by manually selecting “Ministry of Energy and Electrification.”

The Office has created a webpage listing the changes at https://www.oico.on.ca/en/changes-lobbying-target-names, where one can find lists of the new names of ministers’ offices, the ministries, the new ministries, and the removed agencies.

In their June 19 monthly newsletter, the Office of the Integrity Commissioner has stated, “Lobbyists and senior officers should check their registrations to ensure their ministry and agency target lists are up to date. As always, it remains the responsibility of each consultant lobbyist and senior officer to ensure that their registrations are accurate. Consultant lobbyists and senior officers have 30 calendar days under the Lobbyists Registration Act, 1998 to provide these updates.”

Sometime before November 30, 2024, a by-election will be announced for the seat in the Canadian Federal House of Commons representing Cloverdale–Langley City in the province of British Columbia.

On June 3, the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Stéphane Perrault, received official notice from the Speaker of the House of Commons that the seat for Cloverdale–Langley City (British Columbia) became vacant following the resignation of John Aldag, who resigned on May 27 in order to run in the provincial elections this fall in British Columbia.

Under the law, the by-election date must be announced between June 14 and November 30, 2024, and will signal the start of the by-election period.

According to Elections Canada, the earliest date the by-election can be held is July 22, 2024.