Tabulating machines at some polling locations in Maricopa County, Arizona, couldn’t process ballots during part of Election Day, though affected voters could leave their ballots in a secure box or go elsewhere to vote. But some conservatives, including former President Donald Trump, made the unfounded claim that the setback indicated an attempt to “steal” the election.
A “harmless data error” resulted in a glitch at some Detroit polling precincts that incorrectly registered some in-person voters as having already been issued an absentee ballot, the city elections department said. The issue was resolved, and ballot security safeguards are in place to prevent duplicated votes, it said.
Even before the polls opened on Election Day, a potentially significant legal battle erupted in Pennsylvania over whether to count mail-in ballots with an incorrect or missing date on the outside envelope.
Mail-in ballots have become a popular way to vote in the U.S. But the unfounded claim persists that mail ballots lead to rampant fraud and, if counted after Election Day, they are suspect. By law, many states don’t start counting mail ballots until after polls close, and some continue to accept them for days after Election Day if they are postmarked by that date.
Voters are about to get a respite from the political attack-ad onslaught: Election Day is tomorrow. That means no more messages from Democrats attacking Republicans over abortion rights or the future of Medicare; no more Republicans blaming Democrats for inflation or crime. At least for a little while.
Pennsylvania uses a “not verified” code on mail-in ballot applications if a voter’s identity couldn’t be immediately verified; voters have six days after an election to submit a valid ID. But an Instagram post and some Republican leaders — including former President Donald Trump — falsely claim the state has “sent out 249,000 ballots to unverified voters” and misleadingly suggest it will result in widespread fraud.
U.S. Senate candidate Don Buldoc, a Republican, resurrected a zombie claim that has been repeatedly debunked about busloads of people coming from out of state to vote illegally in New Hampshire.
Adam Laxalt, the Republican candidate for Senate in Nevada, opposes abortion and has called the overturning of Roe v. Wade a “historic victory.” But he has not voiced support for criminalizing abortion for women, as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee suggests in a TV ad that shows a woman being arrested for having an abortion.
Millions of Arizona voters requested ballots to vote early in the 2022 election. Early voting results cannot be released until after the election, and ballot security measures prevent widespread voter fraud. Yet a viral video advises Republicans not to vote early, making the baseless claim that it could show Democrats how many votes they need “to fake” to win.
The Kansas state government awarded grants to two nonprofit arts organizations to fund a visiting artist and operating expenses, according to state contracts and one of the groups. Republican efforts to link the funding to all-ages drag shows don’t hold up to scrutiny.