In the final days of the presidential election, lies about non-citizen voting, the vulnerability of mail-in ballots and the security of voting machines are spreading widely on social media.
Election disinformation fueled by former President Donald Trump and notable allies like tech tycoon Elon Musk is distorting voters’ trust in the integrity of the democratic process, polls show, and is once again setting the stage for possible public unrest if the Republican nominee fails to win the presidency win. At the same time, federal officials are investigating ongoing Russian interference social media and shadow disinformation campaigns.
The disinformation “fire brigade” is working as intended, said Pamela Smith, president and CEO of Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group that advocates for the responsible exploit of technology in elections.
“This matter is intended to sow general distrust,” she said. “Your most trusted source is not your friend’s cousin’s uncle you saw on Twitter. It is your local election official. Don’t repeat it. Check it out instead.”
Local officials like Travis Doss in Augusta, Georgia, say they are fighting a losing battle against fast-spreading social media rumors with early voting underway.
Doss, the executive director of the Richmond County Board of Elections, said many voters in his county don’t believe mail-in ballots are properly counted. Many assume that election officials choose which ballots to count based on the neighborhood from which they are sent, or that voting machines can be easily hacked.
In recent weeks, Doss himself heard a rumor that a local preacher had told his entire congregation to re-register to vote because the preacher had heard—incorrectly—that everyone had been removed from the voter rolls.
“Somebody hears something and then they tell people and it’s the worst game of telephone ever,” Doss said. “It’s so hard to correct all the misinformation because there are so many things out there that we don’t even know about.”
When early voting began in Georgia in mid-October, Doss had to remind some voters that poll workers would be watching the polling place and voting equipment throughout the day to make sure no one was tampering with the process. He noted that the tabulation machines are not connected to the Internet and are not being hacked. He also had to emphasize that the ballot boxes were sealed and secure.
The amount of disinformation is spreading across the country is immense.
College students in Wisconsin were targeted with text messages intended to intimidate them into not voting, even if they are eligible. The Michigan State Police had to do it correct There were rumors that voting machines were being illegally tampered with in a precinct, but in reality it was two office workers who were testing the ballot counting machines. Fraudsters pose as election workers called Michigan voters claim they must provide their credit card and Social Security numbers to vote early.
“To protect our democracy, we must address the misinformation and disinformation that is spreading like wildfire,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP.
Running lies
Musk, the owner of the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), has dabbled in a hodgepodge of common election conspiracy theories. At a recent Trump rally in Pennsylvania, he falsely claimed assumed that voting machines developed by Dominion Voting Systems could steal this election from Trump. Dominion successfully sued Fox News and others for spreading this lie after the 2020 election.
Last month, Musk posted that Democrats speed up the naturalization of immigrants living in the country illegally so that the party could gain a lasting electoral advantage. Journalists have been thorough exposed his claim. Trump and his allies have been trying for months to stir up anti-immigrant sentiment to motivate voters to vote the lie that non-citizens vote in droves.
musk shared a false claim about widespread voter fraud in a Wisconsin county in the 2020 election. The target jurisdiction, Henrico County, I posted a thread on X, who corrects Musk’s claims with data. Musk too reinforces a claim that Michigan’s voter rolls were full of inactive voters and vulnerable to fraud. top state officials had to refute also these false claims.
“The most dangerous and effective thing is this retweet button,” said Jay Young, senior director of voting and democracy at Common Cause, a national voting rights group that has a social media monitoring program that tracks online disinformation.
Beyond Musk’s posts, disinformation is prospering on X.
Your most trusted source isn’t your friend’s cousin’s uncle you saw on Twitter. It is your local election official.
– Pamela Smith, President and CEO of Verified Voting
The American Sunlight Project, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that combats misleading information and led by the former head of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security disinformation team, has been released a report this month about the extent of the problem. The report found that nearly 1,200 likely automated accounts on X were spreading Russian propaganda and pro-Trump disinformation about the presidential election.
American spy agencies believe The Kremlin is actively pushing election disinformation this year.
And nearly half of Republican candidates running for top state or congressional offices have questioned the integrity of this year’s election, mostly through social media, one said analysis from the Washington Post. Many of the candidates’ posts contain falsehoods.
Persistent lies about election integrity have consequences: State and local election officials have been bombarded with threats and harassment this year, and trust in elections has plummeted.
According to an October NPR/PBS News/Marist report Opinion pollMore than three in four Americans remain confident or very confident that state and local authorities will conduct a fair and true election.
Still, 58% of Americans say they are worried or very worried that voter fraud will occur this year. Among Republicans surveyed, 86% are worried about fraud, while 55% of independents and 33% of Democrats have a similar fear.
How officials react
Over the past four years as County Clerk Kim Pytleski attended town halls and other community events throughout Oconto County, Wisconsin, on Green Bay’s west coast, she repeatedly heard from voters who said this because their preferred candidate didn’t win in 2020 , there must be something wrong with the election process.
Pytleski, a Republican who faces conspiracy theories, isn’t just telling voters they’re wrong; It asks where the voter got this information and then guides them step by step through the specific issue with details about the voting process.
One concern that is often raised is the volume of absentee ballot applications voters are receiving in the mail. Many residents believe the applications are real ballots that can be marked and returned.
Voters would claim that if so many ballots were sent out, there must be voter fraud, she said. Pytleski had to explain that the requests came from political parties and other groups. Voters can only receive one ballot from her office, she will tell them.
“And once we explain that, most people say, ‘Okay, that makes sense.’ I understand that,” she said during an interview in August.
Pytleski touched her heart with his right hand and raised his hand to heaven. She said she is a committed member of the Republican Party, like most of the county’s voters. But it was challenging for her to go to these meetings and feel the voters’ distrust. She was even called a liar outright.
“I walk into a room that doesn’t seem particularly friendly, and I have to remind them that this is the girl who rode the bus with your kids, this is the girl who grew up in the house down the street is. ” she said. “My name means something to me, so I would never do anything that could jeopardize this or the actual process.”
Misinformation can arise when local election offices have made a mistake in some way, be it a misprint on a ballot, a power outage at a polling place, or something else.
Lisa Posthumus Lyons, the Republican clerk for Kent County, Michigan, regularly reminds voters that elections are run by people and people make mistakes, but there are checks and balances to ensure elections remain safe and sound and lucid, she said .
A decorative sign on her desk reminds her: “Serve the Lord with joy.” She said she hopes voters share her optimism and trust in the system.
“Their rights will be protected, their votes will be counted, the elections will be accurate and fair and we will have a good day,” she said. “We are prepared for anything that arises. It’s that simple.”
In addition to listening to local election officials, voters can rely on election protection hotlines run by experts and democracy advocates, said Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a national legal advocacy group .
The committee is one of many voting rights groups in a coalition leading 866-OUR-VOTE Hotline this election season. The groups operate similar hotlines for people who speak Spanish, Arabic and about 10 Asian languages.
Hewitt said voters can call any hotline if they have questions or concerns about their access or the voting process.
“Not only do we deal with that when there is a problem, but we try to stay ahead of it,” he said. “We are there to support them every step of the way.”
