Post-election misinformation targets Arizona, Pennsylvania
The video on Fox News showed a Wisconsin poll worker initialing ballots before they were given to voters. It's normal procedure on Election Day.
On Tuesday someone posted the clip to social media and claimed instead that it showed a Philadelphia election worker doctoring ballots. And by Wednesday the bogus claim was being shared by QAnon believers and far-right figures like Michael Flynn, ex-president Donald Trump's former national security advisor.
“Masked man cheating in front of the cameras on the mainstream media,” read one post containing the clip, which directed users to repost it. “Spread to normies.”
It's an example of Election Day misinformation that reveals how misleading claims emerge and travel, and how innocent events can be spun into the latest viral election hoax. It also shows the kind of baseless rumors and conspiracy theories that were reverberating around the internet Wednesday as candidates and far-right influencers sought to explain away losses and closer-than-expected races.
Maricopa County remained the epicenter of election misinformation Wednesday after problems with voter tabulation machines in that Arizona county spawned conspiracy theories about vote rigging. The claims spread despite explanations from local officials — including ones from both parties — and assurances that all votes would be counted.
It's understandable that people would go on social media to complain about long election lines or glitchy voting machines, said University of Washington professor Kate Starbird, a leading misinformation researcher.
“The problem is when their audiences pick that up with this assumed voter fraud implication," Starbird said. "It gets picked up and reframed as voter fraud as it spreads.”
Online mentions of Pennsylvania and election fraud topped...
