A field guide to the conspiracy theories you’ll likely see on Election Day

CNN warns that Election Day brings a flood of false claims online, with ordinary glitches at polling places likely to be recast as evidence of fraud. Since each locality runs its own voting, procedures differ, and anything unfamiliar can look sinister on social media.

Jammed printers and missing keys do happen, and officials have backups, such as court-extended hours or secure boxes for ballots when a machine fails. In 2022, printer trouble in Maricopa County, Arizona, was held up by election deniers as proof of a plot, yet a judge found no evidence anyone who wanted to vote was unable to. The author, who has tracked misinformation through five federal election cycles, also expects videos claiming a machine changed someone's vote.

Fabricated footage is the other concern. Fake ballot-burning and ballot-tearing videos from 2020 and 2024 were debunked, the latter traced to Russian operatives. The Brennan Center, a nonpartisan group, finds AI chat tools now make convincing fake evidence of electoral wrongdoing with a click.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN →