On election night time 2020, then-President Donald Trump prematurely declared hours after polls had closed, “We have already got gained.”
He hadn’t, and we rated that Pants on Fireplace. When Trump started to talk within the early morning of Nov. 4, at 2:21 a.m. ET, states have been nonetheless following regular procedures to rely ballots. It was not till Saturday, Nov. 7, that The Related Press had adequate unofficial outcomes obtainable to name the race for Joe Biden.
Previously, when polls closed, politicians and social media influencers unfold falsehoods about voting and the poll counting course of. It’s probably that because the votes are being counted this 12 months, we are going to see falsehoods much like these in 2020.
Voters who’re searching for credible sources for election outcomes info can observe studies from state election officers nationwide, compiled by the Nationwide Affiliation of State Election Administrators. The AP is among the many information shops that may name projected winners primarily based on unofficial outcomes, however in lots of states that won’t happen on election night time.
Listed here are some falsehoods which may floor after the polls shut.
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Claims about hundreds of useless voters
It’s a zombie declare we see throughout each election cycle: Enormous numbers of useless individuals are voting! And they’re all Democrats! Neither is true.
As poll counting was underway in November 2020, X posts falsely mentioned that over 14,000 useless individuals voted in Wayne County, Michigan.
Usually when voters die, it’s uncommon that their kinfolk contact native elections workplaces to ask that their names be faraway from voter rolls. However election workplaces routinely obtain demise information from state and federal sources after which take away useless voters’ names from voter rolls. Some nonetheless find yourself on the rolls.
Often, individuals illegally forged mail ballots in useless kinfolk’ names, as a Republican did in 2020 in Nevada. That voter was charged with felonies.
Claims that poll errors and election web site mishaps equal fraud
Though election officers spend years making ready for presidential elections, errors typically happen. They don’t seem to be an indication of fraud.
Thus far this 12 months, we’ve seen a restricted variety of ballots with errors, similar to a typo in some ballots in Palm Seashore County, Florida. County officers mentioned 257 abroad voters opened an e mail with a poll that mentioned “Tom” Walz as an alternative of Tim Walz, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris’ operating mate.
Some election websites have mishaps, similar to a 6 a.m. water leak on Election Day in 2020 at Atlanta’s State Farm Enviornment, the place election staff have been counting absentee ballots. Enviornment workers repaired the leak in about two hours and no ballots or machines have been broken. State and county election officers debunked the declare that election officers used the occasion to bypass processes and pull out ballots saved in “suitcases” that have been “all for Biden.”
Claims that there have been hundreds of faux votes in Pennsylvania
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, officers mentioned in an preliminary Oct. 25 assertion that they have been investigating 2,500 “ballots,” however a county spokesperson later mentioned that phrase was a mistake and the investigation was into voter registration functions.
Days later, Trump falsely mentioned at an Allentown, Pennsylvania, rally, “We caught them with 2,600 votes. … And each vote was written by the identical particular person.” He made comparable feedback on X about “pretend ballots and kinds” in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania Lawyer Common Michelle Henry, a Democrat, mentioned in an Oct. 31 assertion, “The investigations regard voter registration kinds, not ballots” and have been underway in 4 counties.
Officers don’t place individuals on voter rolls if their registration is suspect, so meaning that there have been not hundreds of faux votes.
Claims about machines flipping votes
As Kentucky’s Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams wrote Nov. 2 on X, “Mild reminder that vote-switching is fiction.” He linked to a 2008 video of Homer Simpson attempting to vote for Barack Obama however repeatedly voting for former Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Election officers going through studies of “flipped” or “switched” votes have mentioned it typically is consumer error, and when voters convey it to their consideration, officers be certain that voters can forged ballots with their desired decisions.
That’s what occurred in Tarrant County, Texas, when one particular person out of greater than 100,000 voters reported having a vote for Trump modified to Harris when the poll was printed. Native election officers mentioned the voting machines usually are not flipping candidates and advised the voter made a mistake when deciding on most well-liked candidates.That poll was destroyed and the voter was allowed to vote once more.
An October Instagram put up mentioned voting machines in Shelby County, Tennessee, have been swapping votes from Harris to Trump. Election officers mentioned there have been no voting machine malfunctions. Voters had inadvertently touched the incorrect space of the poll when utilizing the touchscreen voting machines.
Rampant noncitizen voting doesn’t happen
Trump and his supporters have falsely claimed that Democrats are behind a scheme to lure noncitizens to the U.S. to vote in federal elections. That’s not taking place. Federal regulation bans noncitizens from voting in federal elections.
Noncitizens typically land on voter rolls, typically accidentally when getting drivers licenses. Nonetheless, voting by noncitizens in federal elections is uncommon. The most important case with convictions we discovered was in 2020 in North Carolina, when federal prosecutors charged 19 individuals with voter fraud after they forged ballots, largely within the 2016 election. For context, greater than 4.5 million individuals in North Carolina voted within the 2016 presidential election.
Claims that election officers rip up or trash ballots
When you’re an election employee committing election fraud, you most likely wouldn’t movie your self opening mail poll envelopes, calling out the votes in these ballots, cursing in opposition to one candidate and ripping up ballots marked for that candidate.
However that’s what one ridiculous viral video seems to indicate, main X customers to assert that mail ballots with votes for Trump are being destroyed in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Federal officers mentioned Russian actors manufactured and amplified the video.
Claims in 2020 about giant numbers of ballots discovered within the trash have been both made up or have been about spoiled ballots that have been legally destroyed.
Claims that election officers sneak in “poll dumps” late at night time
It is not uncommon for one candidate to take the lead in early outcomes however not be the winner as extra ballots are counted. For instance, in Pennsylvania, if it takes longer to rely votes in left-leaning Philadelphia than in a extra right-leaning a part of the state, it’s doable that Trump could lead on the state early within the night time however see the margins shift later.
Trump tweeted the declare on Nov. 4, 2020, “Final night time I used to be main, typically solidly, in lots of key States, in nearly all cases Democrat run & managed. Then, one after the other, they began to magically disappear as shock poll dumps have been counted.”
In some states, Trump did initially lead, solely to see Biden ultimately take the lead. However in different states, Biden led and Trump got here again to take the lead.
There may be nothing nefarious about native election officers updating leads to the hours and days after polls shut. In truth, it means they’re counting all respectable ballots. State legal guidelines dictate the method, together with when officers can begin opening mail ballots. Meaning it takes time to complete the rely. Some states, similar to Pennsylvania, don’t permit election staff to start processing mail ballots till Election Day, whereas different states permit that to start weeks earlier.
Claims that mass voter fraud in 2020 affected the election’s end result
After the polls closed in 2020, a cascade of social media photos and photographs claimed to indicate ballot staff and others committing voter fraud. However the posts largely confirmed election officers doing their jobs.
The election system in our nation makes such a heist each unlikely and impossibly elaborate.
“We should always name this what it’s: Trump laying the groundwork so he can forged doubt on the 2024 outcomes if he doesn’t win,” Joanna Lydgate, CEO of the nonpartisan States United Democracy Heart, instructed PolitiFact in early October.
To construct a adequate Electoral School margin, unhealthy actors must collaborate throughout battleground states in a coordinated however secret approach, with tons of of individuals risking felonies for a similar objective.
Pulling this off would require hundreds of unlawful votes. A database maintained by the conservative Heritage Basis exhibits about 1,300 convictions for voter fraud over many years. Throughout that interval, there have been billions of votes forged.
Claims of early victory
Talking on the White Home hours after the polls closed in 2020, Trump mentioned, “We would like all voting to cease. We don’t need them to search out any ballots at 4 o’clock within the morning and add them to the record, okay? It’s a really unhappy second. … And we are going to win this.”
There isn’t any state or federal regulation that claims vote counting should cease just a few hours after the polls shut. Election officers would have violated legal guidelines in the event that they merely stopped counting respectable ballots.
State legal guidelines set the certification deadline in November or December, so the official outcomes gained’t be recognized for weeks after Election Day. However media shops are more likely to challenge a winner far sooner than that.
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