With less than a week until Election Day, election officials across the United States are pushing back against online misinformation about the voting process, offering explanations for claims of rigging, missing candidates, and vote flipping.
The false claims, which have spread on platforms including X and TikTok, focus on alleged election rigging or voter fraud. The article says closer scrutiny typically reveals a logical explanation, while officials and nonpartisan groups urge voters to rely on local election authorities for accurate information.
One video showed a hole punched in a Ventura County, California, ballot return envelope; a man in it said the bubble for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra could be visible through the hole if the ballot was inserted with a certain side facing the front of the envelope. Simone Seydoux, spokesperson for the Ventura County Clerk-Recorder & Registrar of Voters, said the holes follow a design standard recommended by the California secretary of state. One of the two holes goes through the entire envelope so workers can confirm it is empty after the ballot is removed; zip ties are inserted through it to secure emptied envelopes for storage. “The holes are NOT positioned in order to see the vote on a particular contest,” Seydoux wrote in an email, adding that voters may fold the ballot and place it in the envelope in any order. The California secretary of state’s office confirmed the holes are an accessibility feature for sight-impaired voters.
In New York City, a TikTok user who said in the comments that she voted at the Borough of Manhattan Community College claimed that she was given two ballots, one of which was missing conservative candidates. A sample ballot for that location has two double-sided pages; one side of the second page includes judicial races, in which no Republican or Conservative Party candidates are running because none were nominated. Kathleen McGrath, a spokesperson for the New York State Board of Elections, said no candidate appears on a party line when none was nominated for that office, noting that write-in candidates are an option.
Claims that touchscreen voting machines are flipping votes from Democrats to Republicans have also circulated. Election officials say touchscreen challenges are almost always user error or easily fixed screen miscalibration. David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said, “Almost all of the claims of vote flipping are understandable human error.” He compared it to a butt dial or mistyping something on a phone. Katina Granger of Election Systems & Software, which makes the machines used in counties where many recent reports were concentrated, said the company has not been made aware of any widespread issue this cycle. She said voters having difficulty should ask a poll worker for help; if a printed ballot does not reflect their intended selections, they should notify a poll worker rather than cast it, so the jurisdiction can follow its procedures for replacing it.
Another post warned that ballots marked by poll workers would be disqualified. In many jurisdictions, workers write identifiers such as “P” for provisional on ballots as standard procedure. Pamela Smith of the nonpartisan group Verified Voting said, “I always like to say, get your facts straight from the source, and the source is your local election official.”
Analysis
Why This Matters
- Misinformation about voting procedures can erode public trust in election outcomes and discourage turnout.
- With the election days away, false claims risk confusing voters about how to cast a valid ballot.
- Official rebuttals aim to provide a clear, factual baseline for voters across party lines.
Background
The 2026 midterm elections have seen a repeat of a pattern observed in previous cycles: unsubstantiated claims about ballot handling, machine tampering, and voter disenfranchisement spread rapidly on social media. Local and state election officials, along with nonpartisan organizations, regularly monitor and respond to such claims.
Key Perspectives
- Ventura County Clerk-Recorder’s Office: Says the holes in ballot envelopes are an accessibility feature and do not compromise ballot secrecy.
- New York State Board of Elections: States that missing candidate party lines on ballots are due to no nominations, not intentional omission.
- David Becker (Center for Election Innovation and Research): Attributes vote-flipping reports to user error, not machine malfunctions.
- Election Systems & Software: Reports no evidence of widespread touchscreen issues and directs voters to ask for poll worker assistance.
- Pamela Smith (Verified Voting): Urges voters to get accurate information from local election officials, not social media.
What to Watch
- Whether the spread of these claims affects voter turnout or leads to increased requests for provisional ballots.
- Additional posts that may emerge around Election Day itself, especially about wait times, machine breakdowns, or counting delays.
- Responses from election authorities that may need to issue further clarifications or guidance.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 11 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedOfficials rebut false voting claims as the US midterm election nears.The Independent UK: “False and misleading claims about the voting process are being spread online as voters cast their ballots in the 2026 midterms, with Election Day less than a week away.”
- SupportedThe fact-checks address claims about ballot envelopes, missing candidates, touchscreen vote flipping and poll-worker ballot markings.The Independent UK: “Holes in California ballots are not nefarious ... New York City ballots are not missing candidates ... Alleged vote flipping is attributed to user error ... Marking ballots is normal procedure in many jurisdictions”
- SupportedWith less than a week until Election Day, election officials are pushing back against online voting misinformation across the United States.The Independent UK: “False and misleading claims about the voting process are being spread online as voters cast their ballots in the 2026 midterms, with Election Day less than a week away.”
- SupportedA video showed a man saying a ballot-envelope hole could reveal a vote for Xavier Becerra if the ballot was inserted a certain way.The Independent UK: “A man explains that if ballots are inserted with a certain side facing the front of the envelope, the bubble for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra is visible through the hole.”
- SupportedOne envelope hole goes all the way through so workers can check that the envelope is empty, and they use it to secure emptied envelopes with zip ties.The Independent UK: “One of these holes goes through the entire envelope so that election workers can ensure it is empty after the ballot has been removed. Workers also secure stacks of emptied envelopes for storage by inserting zip ties through this hole.”
- SupportedSeydoux wrote, “The holes are NOT positioned in order to see the vote on a particular contest.”The Independent UK: ““The holes are NOT positioned in order to see the vote on a particular contest,” Seydoux wrote in an email.”
- SupportedA TikTok user who said she voted at Borough of Manhattan Community College claimed she was given two ballots, one missing conservative candidates.The Independent UK: “This claim was originally made in a TikTok video by a user who says in the comments that she voted at the Borough of Manhattan Community College in New York City.”
- SupportedThe sample ballot had two double-sided pages, and its judicial races had no Republican or Conservative Party candidates because none were nominated.The Independent UK: “A sample ballot for that location shows that it consists of two doubled-sided pages. One side of the second page includes judicial races, in which no conservative candidates are running.”
- SupportedBecker said, “Almost all of the claims of vote flipping are understandable human error.”The Independent UK: ““Almost all of the claims of vote flipping are understandable human error,” said David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research”
- SupportedES&S’s Granger said the company had not been made aware of any widespread voting-machine issue this cycle.The Independent UK: “Katina Granger, senior manager of public relations for the Nebraska-based ES&S, said the company works closely with election officials and provides technical support when needed but has not been made aware of any widespread issue with voting machines this cycle.”
- Partly supportedIn many jurisdictions, workers write identifiers such as “P” for provisional on ballots as standard procedure.The Independent UK: “In many North Carolina counties, for example, election workers write “P” for provisional or “A” for absentee in a box in the upper left corner of a ballot”
- SupportedSmith said, “I always like to say, get your facts straight from the source, and the source is your local election official.”The Independent UK: ““I always like to say, get your facts straight from the source, and the source is your local election official,” said Pamela Smith, president and CEO of Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group focused on election technology.”