The ‘firehose’ of electoral conspiracy theories floods the last days of the campaign • Kansas Reflector

In the final days of the presidential election, lies about noncitizen voting, the vulnerability of mail-in ballots, and the security of voting machines are spreading widely on social media.

Fueled by former President Donald Trump and notable allies like tech mogul Elon Musk, election disinformation is warping voters’ faith in the integrity of the democratic process, polls show, and setting the stage once again for potential public unrest if The Republican candidate fails to win the presidency. At the same time, federal officials are investigating in progress Russian interference through social networks and shadow disinformation campaigns.

The “firehose” of misinformation is working as intended, said Pamela Smith, president and CEO of Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group that advocates for the responsible use of technology in elections.

“This issue is designed to sow general distrust,” he said. “Your most reliable source is not your friend’s cousin’s uncle you saw on Twitter. This is your local election official. Don’t repeat it. Check it instead.”

With early voting underway, local officials like Travis Doss in Augusta, Georgia, say they are fighting a losing battle against rumors quickly circulating on social media.

Doss, executive director of the Richmond County Board of Elections, said many voters in his county don’t believe absentee ballots are counted correctly. Many think that election officials choose which ballots to count based on the neighborhood they are sent from, or that voting machines are easy to hack.

In recent weeks, Doss himself heard a rumor that a local preacher told his entire congregation to register to vote again because the preacher had heard (falsely) that they had all been removed from the voter registration rolls.

“Someone hears something and then tells it to people, and it’s the worst game of phone tag ever,” Doss said. “It’s very difficult to correct all the misinformation because there are so many things we don’t even know.”

When early voting began in mid-October in Georgia, Doss had to remind some voters that poll workers would watch the polling place and election equipment around the clock, making sure no one tampered with the process. He noted that the tabulating machines are not connected to the internet nor are they being hacked. He also highlighted that the ballot boxes were sealed and secure.

The amount of misinformation that spreads throughout the country. it’s immense.

Wisconsin college students have been addressed with text messages intended to intimidate them from voting, even when they are eligible. Michigan State Police had to correct rumors that people were illegally tampering with voting machines in a precinct, when in reality they were two clerks testing the ballot tabulation devices. Scammers impersonating election officials they have been calling Michigan voters say 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.

Continuous lies

Musk, owner of social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), has gorged himself on a smorgasbord of common election conspiracy theories. At a recent Trump rally in Pennsylvania, he falsely claimed implied that voting machines designed by Dominion Voting Systems could steal this election from Trump. Dominion successfully sued Fox News and others for promoting that lie after the 2020 election.

Last month, musk aware that Democrats are fast-tracking citizenship for immigrants living in the country illegally so the party can gain a permanent electoral advantage. The journalists have discredited your claim. Trying to stir up anti-immigrant sentiment to motivate voters to go to the polls, Trump and his allies have repeated for months the lie that non-citizens are voting en masse.

Musk shared a false claim regarding widespread voter fraud in a Wisconsin county in the 2020 election. The targeted jurisdiction, Henrico County, posted a thread in X correcting Musk’s claims with data. Musk too amplified a claim that Michigan’s voter rolls were filled with inactive voters and ripe for fraud. Senior state officials had to refute those false claims too.

“The most dangerous and effective thing is that 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 misinformation.

Beyond Musk’s posts, misinformation has thrived on X.

The American Sunlight Project, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that fights misleading information and is led by the former head of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security disinformation team, posted a report this month about the extent of the problem. The report found that nearly 1,200 likely automated accounts on X are 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 office or Congress have questioned the integrity of this year’s election, primarily through social media, according to a survey. analysis by The Washington Post. Many of the candidates’ posts include falsehoods.

Sustained lies about election integrity have consequences: State and local election officials have been bombarded with threats and harassment this year, and confidence in elections has plummeted.

According to an NPR/PBS News/Marist report from October surveyMore than 3 in 4 Americans remain confident or very confident that state and local agencies will conduct a fair and accurate 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 respond

Over the past four years of attending town hall meetings and other community events throughout Oconto County, Wisconsin, on Green Bay’s western shore, County Clerk Kim Pytleski has repeatedly heard voters say that because their candidate preferred did not win in 2020. , there must be something wrong in the electoral process.

When presented with conspiracy theories, Pytleski, a Republican, doesn’t just tell voters they’re wrong; asks where the voter got that information and then explains the specific concern with step-by-step details about the voting process.

One concern that comes up often: the volume of absentee ballot applications voters receive by mail. Many residents think that applications are actual ballots that can be marked and returned.

Voters will claim that if so many ballots were submitted, there must be voter fraud, he said. Pytleski had to explain that these were requests and that they came from political parties and other groups. Voters can only receive one ballot from her office, she will tell them.

“And when we explain that to them, for the most part, people say, ‘Okay, that makes sense.’ I get it,’” he said during an interview in August.

Placing her right hand over her heart and raising her hand to the sky, Pytleski said she is a dedicated member of the Republican Party, like most voters in the county. But it has been a challenge for her to attend those meetings and feel the suspicion of voters. She’s even been called a liar to her face.

“I walk into a room that doesn’t feel very friendly and I have to remind them that this is the girl who took the bus route with her kids, this is the girl who grew up in that house down the street,” she said. “My name means something to me, so I would never do anything to jeopardize that or the process itself.”

Misinformation can arise after local election offices make some mistake, whether it’s a misprint on a ballot, a power outage at a polling place or something else.

Lisa Posthumus Lyons, Republican clerk for Kent County, Michigan, regularly reminds voters that elections are run by humans and humans make mistakes, but that checks and balances exist to ensure elections remain secure and transparent, she said.

On his desk, a decorative sign reminds him to “Serve the Lord with Joy.” He said he hopes voters share his optimism and faith in the system.

“Your rights will be protected, your votes will be counted, the elections will be accurate and fair and we are going to have a good day,” he said. “Whatever comes up, we will be prepared for it. It’s as simple as that.”

Beyond listening to local election officials, voters can rely on election protection hotlines run by experts and democracy advocates, said Damon Hewitt, president and CEO 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 led by 866-OUR-VOTE. direct line this election season. The groups have similar hotlines for people who speak Spanish, Arabic and about 10 Asian languages.

With all hotlines, Hewitt said, voters can call if they have questions or concerns about their access or about election procedures.

“This is something we deal with not only when there is a problem, but it’s something we try to get ahead of,” he said. “We are there to help guide them every step of the way.”

Stateline, an affiliate of States Newsroom, produced this story.