Topline
As the final ballots are being cast Tuesday evening, the hotly contested swing state of Pennsylvania appears to have emerged as a center for election disinformation in the U.S., especially when it comes to unverified claims of election fraud.
Key Facts
Elections officials in Erie County, Pennsylvania, denied a claim made on social media that a poll worker named Sebastian Machado had “thrown out over a hundred ballots for Trump,” with the county saying in a statement that there is no evidence anyone by that name is even a registered voter in Erie County.
The Philadelphia Republican Party had multiple tweets shielded and marked as “disputed” by Twitter, making claims about fraud in mail-in balloting and biased poll workers.
The Philly GOP continued to tweet out unsubstantiated claims Tuesday, including a photo purporting to show “an official ballot box being taken away by an unidentified civilian,” an unverified claim that was posted without any context, and later retweeted by Donald Trump Jr.
The image had not yet been flagged by Twitter as of 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, but Philadelphia City Commissioners did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes on the matter.
A Twitter spokesperson told CNN Tuesday that the company had taken action on multiple tweets regarding misinformation in Pennsylvania, most of which came from right-wing sources.
The Philadelphia District Attorney also called a tweet from a Newsmax columnist Tuesday “deliberately deceptive,” with the tweet claiming that a sign in support of Democratic nominee Joe Biden was positioned too close to a polling place.
Tangent
In Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, two poll watchers were kicked out of a polling place for alleged voter intimidation, while two election workers were removed from a polling place in Pittsburgh for fighting.
Crucial Quote
“Philadelphia Democrats have blatantly tossed the rule book out the window and decided the principle of ‘one person, one vote’ doesn’t apply to those trying—and failing—to elect Joe Biden,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Thea McDonald said in a statement. “This egregious, intimidating behavior is just one piece of the Democrats’ shameless attempt to steal the election from President Trump.”
Key Background
Pennsylvania is seen as one of the key swing states that will determine the outcome of the presidential election. Donald Trump carried the state in 2016 by less than one percentage point over Hillary Clinton, though polls showed him trailing Biden in Pennsylvania leading up to Election Day. Trump himself has faced action from Twitter when it comes to Pennsylvania. A tweet from Trump Monday night slamming the state Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the state’s plan to count mail-in ballots received after Election Day was flagged as “misleading about an election or other civic process.”
Further Reading
Pennsylvania emerges as early focus of online Election Day misinformation (CNN)
Election Day Alerts: Voters In Michigan, Iowa, New York Told To ‘Stay Home’ (Forbes)
