Question 1 of 10
It is 9:40 p.m. on election night. Your phone rings and the caller ID shows an internal office extension. The voice sounds like your supervisor. She says the posted results file has an error, the press is waiting, and she needs your log-in right now.
Give her the log-in. The caller ID confirms the call is coming from inside the office. Keep her talking for a minute to see whether the conversation sounds natural, then decide. Tell her you will call her right back, hang up, and dial the number you already have for her. Send the log-in by text instead so there is a written record of the request.
Correct
Caller ID is trivially easy to fake, so it is not evidence of anything. Judging the voice is also a losing game, because the audio keeps getting better. Hanging up and dialing a number you already have breaks the caller's control of the channel, and it costs you about forty seconds.
In practice
No coworker ever needs your password. That request is the alarm, whoever appears to be making it.
Not quite
The best response was: Tell her you will call her right back, hang up, and dial the number you already have for her.
Caller ID is trivially easy to fake, so it is not evidence of anything. Judging the voice is also a losing game, because the audio keeps getting better. Hanging up and dialing a number you already have breaks the caller's control of the channel, and it costs you about forty seconds.
In practice
No coworker ever needs your password. That request is the alarm, whoever appears to be making it.
Question 2 of 10
You are on a video call with someone who looks and sounds like your county attorney. The picture is a little stiff and you are not completely sure it is her. Which check gives you the most confidence?
The face and the voice both match the person you know. The background matches the office she normally works from. She answers your questions quickly and without hesitating. She does or says something only she could, agreed on in advance, such as a code word or holding her badge to the camera.
Correct
The first three are all things a convincing fake can supply. Faces, voices and backgrounds can be generated or lifted from old footage. A shared secret or an unrehearsed physical action is different, because it depends on something an impersonator does not have.
In practice
Verify the person, not the picture. Anything you can see on the screen can be manufactured.
Not quite
The best response was: She does or says something only she could, agreed on in advance, such as a code word or holding her badge to the camera.
The first three are all things a convincing fake can supply. Faces, voices and backgrounds can be generated or lifted from old footage. A shared secret or an unrehearsed physical action is different, because it depends on something an impersonator does not have.
In practice
Verify the person, not the picture. Anything you can see on the screen can be manufactured.
Question 3 of 10
You get a text that appears to be from your director. It asks a routine-sounding question, then suggests you continue the conversation on a personal messaging app. What should that request tell you?
Nothing unusual. Office phones are unreliable during busy periods. It is a warning sign. Moving the conversation to a new channel is a common step in impersonation attempts. It proves you are dealing with a deepfake. It is a good sign, because the new app is encrypted.
Correct
Federal advisories describe this exact sequence in campaigns that impersonated senior officials. The channel switch is not incidental. It moves you somewhere your office has no visibility, no logging and no help, and it builds a little rapport before the real ask arrives.
In practice
When someone wants to move the conversation, that is your cue to verify, not to follow.
Not quite
The best response was: It is a warning sign. Moving the conversation to a new channel is a common step in impersonation attempts.
Federal advisories describe this exact sequence in campaigns that impersonated senior officials. The channel switch is not incidental. It moves you somewhere your office has no visibility, no logging and no help, and it builds a little rapport before the real ask arrives.
In practice
When someone wants to move the conversation, that is your cue to verify, not to follow.
Question 4 of 10
A video is spreading online. It shows your office's ballot processing area with narration claiming staff are doing something improper. What is the most likely explanation?
The whole video was generated by AI from nothing. It is real footage that has been trimmed, reordered or given new narration to change what it appears to show. It is a live feed someone tapped into. It cannot be real, because the public is not allowed in that room.
Correct
Manipulating genuine footage takes no special tools and it works just as well. Federal guidance calls these cheap or shallow fakes, and the examples go back decades, long before AI. Because the underlying video really is yours, it is harder to refute than something invented outright.
In practice
Not every deceptive video is synthetic. Ask what was cut and what was said over it before you ask what model made it.
Not quite
The best response was: It is real footage that has been trimmed, reordered or given new narration to change what it appears to show.
Manipulating genuine footage takes no special tools and it works just as well. Federal guidance calls these cheap or shallow fakes, and the examples go back decades, long before AI. Because the underlying video really is yours, it is harder to refute than something invented outright.
In practice
Not every deceptive video is synthetic. Ask what was cut and what was said over it before you ask what model made it.
Question 5 of 10
You paste a suspicious image into a free online detection tool. It reports a 92 percent chance the image was AI-generated. What can you conclude?
It is confirmed fake, and the office can say so publicly. It is confirmed authentic if the number drops below 50 percent. You have one piece of evidence. A detector score is not a verdict. The tool is useless and the score means nothing at all.
Correct
These tools work best on output from the specific model they were trained against, and they degrade fast on anything else. Small edits can defeat them. They also produce false positives, meaning genuine material gets flagged as synthetic. A score is a reason to look harder, never a basis for a public statement.
In practice
A percentage on a screen is not proof. Route it up the chain instead of acting on it.
Not quite
The best response was: You have one piece of evidence. A detector score is not a verdict.
These tools work best on output from the specific model they were trained against, and they degrade fast on anything else. Small edits can defeat them. They also produce false positives, meaning genuine material gets flagged as synthetic. A score is a reason to look harder, never a basis for a public statement.
In practice
A percentage on a screen is not proof. Route it up the chain instead of acting on it.
Question 6 of 10
A caller's voice sounds slightly flat and oddly paced. They ask what time the early voting site on Main Street closes on Saturday. What should you do?
Refuse to answer and end the call. Require a code word before saying anything. Answer the question. The information is public and nothing sensitive is at stake. File an incident report before responding.
Correct
Verification effort should scale to what is being asked for. Early voting hours are published, so there is no harm in a fake caller learning them. A habit of treating every odd-sounding call as a crisis produces staff who stop trusting the process entirely, and it slows down real voter service.
In practice
Save the verification steps for requests that touch credentials, systems, money or non-public records.
Not quite
The best response was: Answer the question. The information is public and nothing sensitive is at stake.
Verification effort should scale to what is being asked for. Early voting hours are published, so there is no harm in a fake caller learning them. A habit of treating every odd-sounding call as a crisis produces staff who stop trusting the process entirely, and it slows down real voter service.
In practice
Save the verification steps for requests that touch credentials, systems, money or non-public records.
Question 7 of 10
Someone forwards you a photo and points out that all of its metadata has been stripped. What does that tell you?
The photo has definitely been manipulated. The photo is definitely authentic. Very little by itself. Social platforms routinely strip metadata from anything posted to them. The photo was generated by AI.
Correct
Intact metadata leans toward authentic. Partially stripped metadata is worth a closer look. Fully stripped usually just means the file passed through a platform that removes it, which describes almost everything circulating online. Treating absent metadata as proof of a fake is one of the most common errors people make.
In practice
Missing metadata is not a finding. It is the normal condition of anything downloaded from the internet.
Not quite
The best response was: Very little by itself. Social platforms routinely strip metadata from anything posted to them.
Intact metadata leans toward authentic. Partially stripped metadata is worth a closer look. Fully stripped usually just means the file passed through a platform that removes it, which describes almost everything circulating online. Treating absent metadata as proof of a fake is one of the most common errors people make.
In practice
Missing metadata is not a finding. It is the normal condition of anything downloaded from the internet.
Question 8 of 10
A recording surfaces that appears to show an employee in your office saying something damaging. You are the first person to see it. What is your first move?
Forward it around the office so colleagues can weigh in on whether it looks real. Post a quick denial from the office account before the story grows. Save an unaltered copy, avoid editing or re-saving the file, and report it through your office's process. Delete it so it does not spread any further from you.
Correct
Editing, re-compressing or re-saving a file destroys the traces anyone would later use to examine it. Forwarding it widens the circle before anyone knows what it is. Deleting it removes the only copy your office controls. Preserve first, then hand it to the people whose job this is.
In practice
Preserve, then report. You are the custodian of the evidence, not the investigator.
Not quite
The best response was: Save an unaltered copy, avoid editing or re-saving the file, and report it through your office's process.
Editing, re-compressing or re-saving a file destroys the traces anyone would later use to examine it. Forwarding it widens the circle before anyone knows what it is. Deleting it removes the only copy your office controls. Preserve first, then hand it to the people whose job this is.
In practice
Preserve, then report. You are the custodian of the evidence, not the investigator.
Question 9 of 10
Your office decides to adopt a code word for confirming identity during sensitive phone and video calls. How should it be handled?
Emailed to all staff so everyone has it in writing. Shared in person ahead of time, requested during remote conversations, and changed on a regular schedule. Saved in a document on the shared drive where staff can look it up. Required at the start of every call the office receives.
Correct
A code word only works if an attacker cannot reach it. Email and shared drives are exactly what gets compromised first, so storing it there defeats the purpose. Share it face to face, ask for it when the request is sensitive, and rotate it so an old leak does not stay useful.
In practice
Anything that lives in your inbox is not a secret. Hand the code word over in person.
Not quite
The best response was: Shared in person ahead of time, requested during remote conversations, and changed on a regular schedule.
A code word only works if an attacker cannot reach it. Email and shared drives are exactly what gets compromised first, so storing it there defeats the purpose. Share it face to face, ask for it when the request is sensitive, and rotate it so an old leak does not stay useful.
In practice
Anything that lives in your inbox is not a secret. Hand the code word over in person.
Question 10 of 10
A well-followed account claims that a genuine video statement from your director is an AI fake. Why should your office be ready for this?
It should not be a concern, because authentic material can always be proven authentic. Because the existence of convincing fakes now lets people dismiss real material, so this needs to go to your director or communications lead rather than into an argument online. Because you should run the video through a detector and post the result immediately. Because the safest response is to take the original video down.
Correct
This runs the other direction from what most training covers. Once the public knows fakes are possible, calling something fake becomes a way to wave off inconvenient truth. Staff who argue it in replies tend to make it larger. Pulling the video down looks like a concession.
In practice
Denial of the real is the mirror image of the problem. Escalate it and let your communications lead carry it.
Not quite
The best response was: Because the existence of convincing fakes now lets people dismiss real material, so this needs to go to your director or communications lead rather than into an argument online.
This runs the other direction from what most training covers. Once the public knows fakes are possible, calling something fake becomes a way to wave off inconvenient truth. Staff who argue it in replies tend to make it larger. Pulling the video down looks like a concession.
In practice
Denial of the real is the mirror image of the problem. Escalate it and let your communications lead carry it.
Not a passing score yet
At least one answer was wrong, so the certificate stays locked. Read the notes above, then use Start over in the answer sheet and work through it again. Ten out of ten is the only passing score.
The four habits behind every question
Call back on a number you already have. Never one that arrives with the request.Use a code word agreed on in person. Rotate it, and never store it where email lives.Verify on a different channel than the request came in on. If it came by phone, confirm by text or face to face.Preserve and report rather than forward or answer. You are the first custodian of anything suspicious.
Certificate of Completion
Verify First
AI deepfakes, cloned voices, and impersonation readiness for election office staff
Awarded to
Completed the ten-question Verify First quiz with a perfect score, demonstrating working knowledge of caller verification, code word practice, out-of-band confirmation, and the correct handling of suspicious audio, images, and video.
Fill in your name, office and date above, then print this page with Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on a Mac). Only the certificate prints.
This page prints the certificate once all ten questions are answered correctly. Go back, finish the quiz, then print again.
Running this with your team
Assign it before the cycle, not during Put it alongside poll worker training, while there is still time to fix a gap it turns up.Do one pass as a group Project it at a staff meeting and argue about the answers out loud. The disagreements are the training.Set the code word that same day Question nine only means something if the office actually has one. Agree on it in person before people leave the room.Name the person to call Fill in who staff contact for a suspected cloned voice or an edited video, and tell that person they are it.Collect the certificates A perfect score is the only way to get one, so a full set is a clean record that everyone covered this.Give the public a version too This quiz is for staff. For voters, NASED and the National Association for Media Literacy Education publish election media literacy tip sheets in English and Spanish that you can customize with your office logo and website. Get the tip sheets Run it again next cycle Habits fade and the tools change. Ten minutes a year is a fair trade.
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