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NewsGuard’s “False Claim of the Week” highlights a claim from NewsGuard’s False Claim Fingerprints, a proprietary database of provably false claims and their debunks. This week’s claim is that voting machines in Cook County, Illinois, discouraged voters from selecting Republican judicial candidates in October 2026. It is NewsGuard’s “False Claim of the Week” due to its widespread appearance across social media platforms and websites, its high engagement levels, and the high-profile nature of the sources promoting it. Those three factors, as well as its significant subject matter and potential for harm, make it our False Claim of the Week.
By Julia Senzon
What’s happening: Conservative social media accounts are falsely claiming that voting machines in Cook County, Illinois, are discouraging voters from selecting Republican judicial candidates. The claim appears to be based on a misunderstanding of a voting machine notification shown to voters who leave their ballots incomplete.
Context: In Illinois, state circuit court-level judicial candidates are elected through partisan elections for their first...
Claim: An X user posted a viral publication from a newspaper claiming that the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is reportedly battling a terminal illness and has been flown out of the country ...