Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth prevailed in her midterm race in Illinois, defeating Republican Kathy Salvi. Some social media users, though, are claiming the incumbent Duckworth was aided by a sudden surge of votes from "corrupt" voting machines.
"BREAKING! Million vote spike and the only explanation is corrupt electronic voting machines," reads a Nov. 8 Facebook post by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who has been a frequent purveyor of baseless voter fraud claims.
The post was shared more than 200 times in less than a day, while an identical Instagram post accumulated nearly 15,000 likes.
But Lindell is wrong.
An Illinois election official said there is no evidence any voting machines were compromised. All of the state's election equipment is tested for accuracy before the election, and there are strict security protocols for that equipment and the ballots.
During the vote-counting process, election officials typically release unofficial results to the media periodically in batches, which can create sudden shifts in vote counts. But a USA TODAY review of election night tallies from the Associated Press shows no such voting spike in the Illinois senate race.
USA TODAY reached out to Lindell for comment.
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