“This is making election officials’ lives much more difficult,” Becker said.
Eric Olsen, who oversees elections in Prince William County, Virginia, echoed these concerns, stating that combating misinformation has become an essential yet difficult aspect of the job.
“From our position, social media feels like a giant wave coming at you, and we’re in a little canoe with a paddle,” Olsen said. “But we have to keep doing the work.”
Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, former President Donald Trump has continued to cast doubt on the integrity of the upcoming election, a tactic he employed in both of his previous presidential bids. Even after winning in 2016, Trump falsely claimed he lost the popular vote due to illegal ballots and launched a presidential commission to investigate. The commission disbanded without finding any evidence of widespread fraud.
This year, Trump is again accusing Democrats of cheating, using the phrase “Too Big to Rig” to energize his supporters and prepare the groundwork to challenge the election results if he loses.
Spreading baseless claims about elections has already had serious consequences, leading to widespread harassment and threats against election workers, high turnover, and culminating in the violent January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021.
The conspiracy theories surfacing recently are not new, with long-standing claims of “vote flipping” reappearing, particularly in Georgia and Tennessee.
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