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With just over two weeks until the November 3 midterm elections, a new wave of false and misleading claims targeting election procedures, political figures and the integrity of the vote are gaining traction online. These have included fabricated statements attributed to Elon Musk and Pope Leo XIV to misleading warnings about mail-in ballots.
A review of fact-checks published by Snopes, AFP Fact Check and Lead Stories recently identified six cases that deserve your attention. Although the claims differ, they follow a familiar pattern that we outline here.
False Claims About Election Procedures
Georgia is not removing party affiliations from its ballots this year. AFP Fact Check recently debunked online warnings claiming that Georgia had eliminated party labels from ballots for the November elections. The organization rated the claim partly false and confirmed that party affiliations will still appear on ballots until 2028. The misleading posts risk confusing voters about how candidates will be identified.
The U.S. postmaster general did not announce plans to block mail-in voting. Another misleading narrative caught by fact-checkers suggested that Postmaster General David Steiner had warned of ways to obstruct mail-in ballots, prompting recommendations that voters avoid the mail and use ballot drop boxes instead. Snopes...
This article was also published in REDESCover, DDIA’s weekly newsletter. Click here to subscribe and get the next edition delivered straight to your inbox. With just over two weeks until the Novem...