Social media users claim more than half of John Fetterman’s votes in the Pennsylvania Senate election came from mail-in ballots, showing that Democrats have cheated in the 2022 midterm elections. increase. This is incorrect. The numbers in the post are wrong, and there is no evidence that absentee ballots contributed to widespread fraud in battleground states.
November 10, 2022, “52% of Fetterman’s votes were mail-in ballots. , must match this effort.” Tweet.
The same claims were made again Facebook When Instagram He is a prominent physician endorsed by former U.S. President Donald Trump after the Democratic candidate is expected to win the race against Republican Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s Senate race.
Screenshot of a tweet from November 18, 2022
Unsubstantiated allegations of absentee ballot fraud are nothing new.
Trump is repetition When false claims Mail-in ballots are a source of widespread fraud.Such suspicions spread Previousmedium, and rear The 2020 presidential election — and Also Follow the latest interim results.
But Fetterman failed to win 52% of the votes in mail-in ballots, making fraud extremely rare.
Primary Election Results as of Nov. 21 Indicated Fetterman received 35% of the vote in the mail-in ballot. According to the Pennsylvania State Department, about 9.4% of Oz’s votes came from absentee ballots.
Mail-in Vote Fraud Is “Rare”
Acting Secretary of State of Pennsylvania Lee Chapman The Nov. 8 ballot did not mention the issue of mail-in ballots. report About the midterm elections.
She said the biggest problem was with direct voting in Lucerne County, where about 44 polling stations ran out of paper and had to extend hours.
“Vote-by-mail fraud is rare and we have mechanisms in place to prevent and detect them,” the Pennsylvania State Department told AFP.
“More than 6.3 million no-excuses mail-in ballots were cast for voter choice. Act 77 Mail-in ballots in 2019 are secure. safety It’s a way for Pennsylvania voters to cast their ballots and have a voice in elections. ”
Absentee ballots cast in Pennsylvania November 8th counted.
The Federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency also said there were no verified reports of widespread fraud affecting the 2022 midterm elections.
“We have not seen evidence that the voting system has deleted or lost votes, altered votes, or been compromised in any way in any constituency in the country,” the agency said on November 9. Stated. statement.
“struck by lightning”
2020 Analysis from Brennan Justice CenterIt is a left-leaning think tank.
“Americans are still more likely to be struck by lightning than to commit mail-in ballot fraud,” the report said.
This is backed by data from The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, shows that there were 12 confirmed cases of absentee ballot fraud in Pennsylvania between 1994 and 2022.
Voting validation method It varies from state to state, but every state has tools to keep votes safe. With barcodes, secure drop boxes, tracking systems and post-election audits, Enhanced security About mail-in ballots.
AFP fact-checks other false and misleading claims about midterm elections here.