Election Misinformation

With the 2022 midterm’s right around the corner, it is important to be able to spot common election misinformation rumors that might impact your faith in our democratic process.

Claims of Voter Fraud: this is a big one. Voter fraud itself is incredibly rare. The Heritage Foundation notes only 252 cases [the infographic says 238, but the list of voter fraud cases has been updated for 2022] of voter fraud across all 50 states since 1988.

People heard rumors in 2020 about people voting for their deceased relatives. This is difficult to accomplish thanks to the Help America Vote Act of 2002 which requires election officials to crosscheck voter lists against the state’s records of the recently deceased. Tennessee specifically accepts data provided by the Social Security Administration for proof that a registered voter has died as well as a monthly list of the deceased from the vital records office being delivered to the coordinators of election.

If you are more worried about Double Voting (or voting twice in an election), just know that many states participate in crosschecking to help remove duplicate names for those who have moved and by checking voter registration information against the U.S. Postal Service’s National Change of Address database according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Voter fraud claims are typically baseless. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, many voter fraud claims occur because of clerical errors or so-called bad matching where multiple people have similar names/identity verifying information like birth dates. These are simple mistakes that you or your poll worker could make. Voters cannot even photocopy or print out extra absentee ballots. Each Election Commission has safeguards in place to protect the integrity of the ballot—just like how you cannot just print money with a home printer. Check out this graphic from the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency about absentee ballot safeguards.

Tennessee does not have any specified absentee ballot collection laws, but all absentee ballots must be mailed in—no hand delivery accepted. By requiring the ballot to be mailed in, you can track your absentee ballot HERE. There is also a list of qualifications that need to be met in order to receive an absentee ballot. You can find those parameters HERE.

If after you cast your ballot, you see news articles and politicians claiming that more votes were cast than registered voters, check to make sure the data is not outdated. Snopes’ Dan Evon dismissed this myth after the 2020 election and did us the favor of updating the numbers of registered voters.

Poll Workers: Poll workers work to ensure everyone gets the correct ballot and help you navigate the polling devices. If you want to understand the polling equipment used, check out the National Conference of State Legislatures’ article on equipment. Williamson County uses the ES&S ExpressVote machine. This is similar to what the National Conference of State Legislature calls DREs.

This technology can be vulnerable. This does not automatically mean that hackers can change the election results according to the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. The software is federally and locally tested prior to the election, and in Williamson County, specifically, our voting machines produce a paper trail and allow for audits which can help verify the digital results (see above for information on the ES&S ExpressVote). This is like a ‘fail-safe’ valve for technology used to cast votes.

Voter Suppression/Inaccurate Information: If you’re checking social media for information on Election Day, you could see rumors about long lines, closed locations, etc. Don’t panic. The easiest thing to do is to check GoVoteTN. You can put in your address and see where you can vote on Election Day. If you are going to use social media, trust election related information from the Williamson County social media.

Election Results: If at the end of the election, the results from 9 pm on Election Night say one candidate will win, but when you wake up the following morning another candidate is declared the victor, do not be alarmed. Each state has their own laws for polling hours. Tennessee’s polls, for example, must close at 7 pm CST or 8 pm EST. However, in other states, polls could stay open as late as 9 pm local time. For counting votes, that means the official count cannot be concluded until every ballot cast at 9 pm local time has been counted. Sometimes the official count cannot be concluded until several days after Election Day (as was the case in the 2020 election). This happens with a high number of absentee ballots. Like each state having its own rules for polling places, each state controls its absentee ballot policies. This means that the deadline for returning the ballot to the Election Commission can be different across states. In Tennessee, absentee ballots must be returned on Election Day. However, in Ohio, as long as the ballot is postmarked the day before Election Day, the ballot is still valid even if it shows up to the Election Commission as late as 10 days after Election Day. This can make the official results take almost a week to be 100% accurate! As these ballots come in and get counted overnight, the election results can change leading to a new victor.

Elections can be a stressful and confusing time, with new laws on how to vote and new places to vote, but you have all the tools needed to vote this election, and should have confidence in our democratic system. If you want to do some of your own fact-checking before this election, check out Snopes, Politifact, and Reuters.

Voting Information:

Check your Voter Registration HERE

Need an Absentee Ballot? Get the form HERE

Have a felony conviction? See about having your voting rights restored HERE

Get the voting rights restoration form HERE

Remember, GoVoteTN is your one-stop shop for your voting needs.

If this is your first election voting, you must vote in person, and don’t forget your photo ID!

Paige Hurley, Reference Department