A list of bogus election fraud claims, cobbled together from dubious websites and failed lawsuits aimed at overturning President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, has spread widely online.
Nine Election Fraud Claims, None Credible
Stories by Saranac Hale Spencer
Staff Writer, FactCheck.org
Video Doesn’t Show Election Fraud in Georgia
Conspiracy theorists falsely claimed that a video of an election worker during the Georgia machine recount revealed fraud in the 2020 election. All it showed was an election worker performing a routine part of the process, according to election officials.
Baseless Conspiracy Theory Targets Another Election Technology Company
An unfounded conspiracy theory of widespread election fraud claims that an election technology company called Smartmatic switched votes in the 2020 election. But Smartmatic provided ballot-marking machines to only one U.S. county.
U.S. Army Didn’t Seize Election Servers in Germany
A congressman and conservative news outlets are spreading the baseless claim that the U.S. Army seized an election software company’s server in Frankfurt, Germany, that could supposedly prove there was fraud in the 2020 election. There was no such seizure — and the company doesn’t even have a server in Frankfurt.
Bogus Theory Claims Supercomputer Switched Votes in Election
A baseless conspiracy theory claims that a secret supercomputer was used to switch millions of votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Experts — and the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — have said the theory is a hoax and that safeguards, including paper trails, would deter such an effort.
Pennsylvania Postal Worker Waffles on Election Fraud Claim
A postal worker in Erie, Pennsylvania, claimed that his superiors were backdating postmarks on ballots, then told federal investigators that he didn’t actually know that — and then went back to his original position. Despite the flimsiness of the claim, President Donald Trump and his supporters have used it in their effort to blame widespread election fraud for his electoral defeat.
Misleading Claim of Dead Registered Voters in Pennsylvania
A misleading claim that more than 21,000 registered voters in Pennsylvania are dead is circulating online. The figure comes from a conservative group that failed to convince a federal judge in October that its list was accurate.
Claim of Michigan Postal Fraud Is Moot
A video from a right-wing activist suggests that U.S. Postal Service employees backdated ballots in Michigan. The claim is unproven, but, even if true, no ballots in the state are accepted after Nov. 3, regardless of the postmark.
Bogus QAnon Claim that Mail-In Ballots Are Illegitimate
A bogus QAnon-related claim that many of the mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 election were illegitimate has spread widely on social media. But the claim is based on the faulty assumption that ballots are produced by the federal government.
Sharpie Ballots Count in Arizona
The falsehood that votes for President Donald Trump weren’t counted in Arizona because the ballots were filled out with Sharpie pens spread widely on the day after the election. But the county where the claim originated actually recommends that voters use fine tip Sharpies to fill out their ballots.