Fact: Election officials have multiple systems in place to ensure that regardless of any Election Day problems, people will be able to vote and have their vote counted.
There are over 130,000 polling locations in the United States, where nearly 800,000 poll workers help Americans vote. With such a vast operation encompassing several hundred thousand personnel and various kinds of technology, sometimes things happen, and a small percentage of locations experience technical issues. Election officials plan for these possibilities and have multiple backup systems to ensure that regardless of any Election Day problems, people have the opportunity to vote and have their vote counted. These preparations helped make the 2020 election the most secure in U.S. history.
Rumor: Minor technical issues at the polls are evidence that election results cannot be trusted.
In previous elections, conspiracy theorists have latched onto breaking news — including stories about technical issues at the polls — to spread rumors that election results cannot be trusted. These bad-faith actors often continue to cause undue panic long after the issues have been resolved.
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We worked with Swayable, a research software platform that measures how effectively media content changes opinions, to determine what messages helped voters best understand the facts.
Suggested counter-message based on our testing:
- There are over 130,000 polling places in the U.S., and each election, a small percentage experience technical issues. Election officials have multiple systems in place to ensure that regardless of any Election Day problems, people have the opportunity to vote and have their vote counted.
The message above was found to be most effective in communicating the facts, though differences exist by region and demographic group. See Swayable’s dashboard to examine more detailed results, including other messages tested.
