Fact Check: Voter Fraud Misinformation (Nov 9)

False/Unproven Voter Fraud Allegations as of 11-9-20

A glitch in the vote counting software used in Michigan led to thousands of ballots cast for Trump being counted for Biden. False. Michigan’s Secretary of State acknowledged a problem in one county where votes were initially incorrectly reported for Biden; this problem was quickly identified and corrected. "There is no evidence this user error occurred elsewhere in the state." This was human error, not a software glitch. 

Dead people voted in Pennsylvania. No evidence yet. This is a common allegation that is sometimes true but is usually a) a person dying after mailing a ballot or b) administrative list-matching error. There is 1 verified account in Allegheny County of a person’s mail-in ballot being sent after they died (the person’s wishes were to vote for Trump).

21,000 ballots were cast in the name of dead people in Pennsylvania. False. Plaintiff (Public Interest Legal Foundation) did not provide proof to the judge.

Dead people voted in Michigan. False. Michigan election officials called the rumors "misinformation" noting that votes from dead people are rejected.

A video of searches of Michigan’s Voter Information Center shows that dead residents voted. False. Video actually showed legitimate voters, and examples implying dead voters were proven wrong. The false claims were shared online with the hashtag #stopthesteal, which has been circulated in recent days to suggest that votes are being stolen from Trump.

Poll workers illegally filled in ballots in Pennsylvania. False. Video shows election workers transcribing votes from damaged ballots so they could be scanned and recorded.

Election workers in Delaware County stamped clean ballots as received and then filled them in. False. Livestream video was an election worker transcribing votes from damaged ballots to clean ballots. the video was cropped to remove the bipartisan observers watching over election workers from 6 feet away.

Poll workers stuffed ballots in Flint, Michigan. False. Video shows poll workers in Russia, not in the United States. It has been circulating online since March 19, 2018.

Ballots were suspiciously mishandled in Detroit, Michigan. False. The video is of a WXYZ-TV cameraman using the wagon to carry his heavy camera equipment.

Votes eliminated in Arizona and Michigan because people were made to use Sharpie pens to mark their ballots, causing tabulation machine to cancel the vote. False. Maricopa County (Arizona) Elections Department tweeted on Election Day that voting centers use Sharpies so that ink does not smudge when ballots are counted.

More mail-in ballots were counted in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania than were requested or sent. False. An inaccurate graphic on a local TV station briefly showed this but was quickly corrected. 

Wisconsin had more votes counted than people registered to vote. False. The number of registered voters listed in a viral tweet used the number from 2018. Registered voters in 2020 are a half million higher than in 2018.

Election officials in DeKalb County, Georgia, rejected 40,000 absentee ballots. False. Twitter users circulated false information. DeKalb County issued a statement: “Currently, there are approximately 200 ballots that need to be cured and each voter is being contacted.”

A map of voting in Michigan on election night showed a sudden increase of around 130,000 votes for Biden but none for Trump. Misleading. This map was shown, but it was a data entry error that was later corrected. The election monitoring website which created the map, said: "It was a simple error from a file created by the state that we ingested… the state noticed the error and produced an updated count." Matt Mackowiak, the user whose post was picked up by Trump, has deleted the tweet and apologized.

Trump alleged that Pennsylvania ballots counted after Election Day are being counted “... without any identification whatsoever.” False. Pennsylvania requires people voting in person to provide proof of identity if it is their first time voting at that precinct. That’s also required from from anyone registering for a mail-in ballot. Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State advised that ballots should not be counted if a name on a mail-in ballot can’t be verified, or if identification was not received. But such voters have six days after their ballot is received, but no later than Nov. 12, to show ID and have their vote count.

Trump alleged that in Pennsylvania “Democrats have gone to the State Supreme Court to try to ban our election observers very strongly.” False. Philadelphia officials appealed a state court ruling granting Trump’s observers closer access to the city’s vote-counters, saying they have provided access that complies with state law and contains necessary precautions in light of the pandemic.

Trump alleged “The officials overseeing the counting in Pennsylvania, all part of a corrupt Democrat machine." False. The counting of votes is run by counties, many of which are controlled by Republicans.

Sources:
FactCheck.org: https://www.factcheck.org/2020/11/thin-allegations-of-dead-people-voting/
AP News: https://apnews.com/article/fraud-claims-aimed-trump-base-loyal-e1c3c5147d11a033fb43ebe66a29f7e8
AP News: https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-ap-fact-check-pennsylvania-media-social-media-cffc1bf12660177b0c651f98054a3a76
BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54811410
Philadelphia Inquirer: https://www.inquirer.com/news/trump-fact-check-pennsylvania-ballot-philadelphia-president-20201105.html
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