Watch out for election night lies

Donald Trump I told lie after lie In his 2020 election night speech. With the former president running again in 2024, here are 12 possible lies to watch out for on this week’s election night and perhaps in the days to come.

False declarations of victory

As votes are still being counted on election night 2020, Trump misrepresented It turned out that he was the winner and loser of various swing states, and it turned out that he was the winner but lost the elections.

Validator’s tip: Do not trust any candidate’s own declarations of victory. Instead, expect unofficial predictions (colloquially known as “calls”) from major media outlets on the winner of each state and election.

False claims that Harris cannot legitimately win

It is very likely that Trump will win this election. But if Vice President Kamala Harris wins, Trump may well revive his stance. Unfounded claims before November The only way for Harris to prevail was to cheat.

Validator’s tip: Know that this claim is absurd. Opinion polls consistently show Trump and Harris locked in a close race. It can be won fair and square by either of them.

False claims that out-of-context videos show bad behavior

Social media is full of posts depicting election-related videos in misleading ways about what is happening. In 2020 and beyond, for example, Trump and his allies claimed that a video captured apparent illegality by two election workers in Georgia. I’m not actually doing anything wrong.

Validator’s tip: Before you believe a video shows what a headline on social media claims, seek information from publications by state and local election authorities and state and local journalists.

False claims that well-intentioned bugs are malicious

A small Michigan county in 2020, mistake The initial report on the votes reported Trump votes as if they were Biden votes — and Trump and his allies used that error, which was promptly corrected, as the primary basis for a sprawling conspiracy theory that baselessly claimed voting technology was rigged for Biden votes. Steal the election.

Validator’s tip: Know that as counties across the country process and report more than 150 million votes, there are always a number of initial errors. Human error is always more likely than a conspiracy; Look for evidence before attributing these errors to malicious intent.

False claims of mass fraud in Democratic-majority cities

Trump has been falsely claiming for years that the overwhelming majority is in Democratic cities. large Black populationA lot Philadelphia as Detroit, Milwaukee And of Atlantafull of election fraud.

Validator’s tip: Request evidence for such claims made in 2024. Know that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud or rigging by election officials in any Democratic-majority city or state in 2020.

False claims that normal reporting of votes late at night is suspicious

Trump has It has been claimed many times He said there was something wrong with the so-called “dumping” of votes during the night hours of election night in 2020. In reality, these were regular votes, counted as usual and added to the public totals as quickly as possible.

Validator’s tip: Be aware that counting votes takes time, especially in populous urban counties with large numbers of voters, and that it is standard, not suspicious, for some votes to be reported after midnight on election night. Also know that Republican state senators in swing states Wisconsin And Pennsylvania Between the last election and this election, he refused to pass bills that would allow for faster counting.

Unsubstantiated claims that vote counting was questionable after Election Day

Trump famously They called in 2020 Calls to “STOP THE COUNT” when the count showed a temporary lead over Biden sometimes led to baseless questioning of the legitimacy of the vote count after election night.

Validator’s tip: Know that counting always continues after election night. While media outlets often “call” races on election night, these “calls” are unofficial predictions based on incomplete data. The official count continues until all valid votes are counted.

False claims that mail-in ballots are rife with fraud

Trump has for four years He made false claims about mail-in ballots, claiming they were rife with fraud.

Validator’s tip: Know that there is no evidence of widespread mail ballot fraud; Although experts say there is slightly more fraud in these ballots than in-person voting, it is still a problem. very small percentage of votes. Also Trump himself He encouraged his supporters to vote by mail. like this year continued to criticize mail-in ballots.

Unfounded claims that ballots accepted after Election Day are illegitimate

Embers recommended That mail-in ballots sent after Election Day in 2020 are illegitimate and should not be counted.

Validator’s tip: Know that there is nothing illegal in these votes.

Some of these are the votes of soldiers and other citizens living abroad. to obtain Return deadlines have been extended in many states. Others may also be legal votes: even Some states are run by RepublicansUtah, including West Virginia and Ohio, allows ballots from U.S. citizens to be counted, even if they arrive a certain time after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked by a deadline on or before Election Day. (This year seven oscillation statesbut Nevada is the only state that does not require mail-in ballots to arrive by the evening of Election Day.)

False claims about lack of verification of voters in the military and abroad

Embers False claim in September He said Democrats used military and overseas ballots to rig the election and falsely said those ballots were sent to people whose identities had not been checked.

Validator’s tip: Know that these voters’ identities were verified by local election offices when they registered to vote.

False claims of noncitizens voting en masse

Trump has been claiming for years that many non-citizens voted illegally in the presidential election. For example, even after winning the 2016 election, he erroneously alleged Millions of undocumented immigrants vote in California, he said.

Validator’s tip: Know that these claims are false. there is one small number The number of known cases of illegal voting by noncitizens is large, and nonpartisan election law experts say such cases are almost always caught thanks to the layers of authentication built into the registration and voting process.

False claims regarding voter registration applications in Pennsylvania

Trump made a false statement in the week leading up to Election Day requested It found that there were more than 2,000 fake “ballots” in a single Pennsylvania county.

Validator’s tip: Know that the issue in this district was not about actual votes. More precisely, these were voter registration applications thought to be suspicious and placed under investigation.

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