The US presidential race is facing a wave of misinformation

US: Americans will undoubtedly see more of the same in the final weeks of this year’s campaign, with allegations of vote fraud and anomalies expected to predominate, four years after a US presidential contest marred by disinformation.

The vote count is anticipated to take days, adding fuel to internet animosity toward the voting process as conspiracy theories already abound in the too-close-to-call fight between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

In areas like Texas, social media users are already distorting early voting equipment issues as proof of misconduct. Additionally, Republican former President Trump has often charged Democrats with bringing in illegal immigrants to cast ballots for Harris on November 5, Election Day.

After 2020, when Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden but asserted erroneously and against all evidence that he had won—a baseless claim he still makes today—that story acquired enormous support and contributed to years of election denialism.

According to a recent study by the multi-university Bright Line Watch program, eight out of ten Republicans support the idea that illegal immigrants may assist Harris in the White House, despite the fact that this idea has been consistently refuted.

The vice chair of the Philadelphia City Commissioners in the state of Pennsylvania, Lisa Deeley, said, “It’s the same playbook from 2016 and then again in 2020 and now 2024,” in response to the wave of false information.

Fake celebrity endorsements, sarcastic films of campaign events, and satire masquerading as news are all contributing to the chaos.

According to Bright Line Watch, there are also a lot of conspiracy theories about two assassination attempts on Trump during the campaign, with over one-third of Democrats thinking they were manufactured.

False allegations of tampered voting machines, dead voters, and unlawful overnight ballot dumps plagued the 2020 election, which culminated with Trump supporters attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Experts say they anticipate a barrage of identical lies and AI-generated images this time, along with hasty assertions of triumph, even if there are no courts, audits, or recounts revealing proof of extensive fraud.

According to Justin Levitt, a law professor at Loyola Marymount University, “one piece of misinformation that is absolutely predictable is the false impression that we should know on election night who won, and there is something wrong if we don’t.”

“That’s all that the forecasts you get are. Furthermore, if such forecasts take longer than expected, it indicates that the election is functioning rather than that it has failed.

“KIND OF LAUGHABLE”

According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the most secure presidential election in American history occurred last year.

According to a database maintained by the conservative Heritage Foundation, there have only been a few dozen convictions for criminal fraud out of the tens of millions of votes cast in 2020 and during the 2022 midterm elections.

According to research gathered by the Brennan Center for Justice, which examined fraud cases before to 2020, misconduct is rare.

Those Americans who do commit such crimes are subject to severe punishments, including jail time or fines of thousands of dollars.

Charles Stewart, head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Election Lab, remarked, “The idea that there would be widespread voter fraud is kind of laughable with all the scrutiny on elections these days.”

Keeping the vote safe

Every state has security safeguards in place at every stage of the voting process, even though each state sets its own election regulations.

Absentee votes in Maricopa County, Arizona, which Biden reclaimed from Republicans in 2020, are subjected to stringent signature verification.

Deputy Elections Director Jennifer Liewer told AFP, “We have bipartisan teams that then take the ballot out of the envelope, and that’s what gives us the secret ballot.” Voters who cast their ballots early may follow it “every step of the way.”

Numerous counties, notably Fulton County, Georgia, another swing state hotspot, webcast the count and have stringent chain-of-custody protocols for votes.

“We want to make sure things are open, that the public knows what’s open to the public—that they can come and see those things and not let somebody else post a video with false narratives,” said Nadine Williams, the county’s director of elections and registration.
Deeley of the Philadelphia City Commissioners suggests being more active by volunteering as a poll worker for those who are still unsure about the procedure.

“Then they can take part in their own democracy,” she said.