Election Fraud

Did Rep. Jim Jordan slap former Special Counsel Robert Mueller during a congressional hearing? No, that's not true: The social media post making the claim provides no proof. More importantly, such an assault on Mueller by Jordan never happened. The claim appeared in a post on Facebook on April 10, 2023. The title of the video read: 'YOU ARE LYING'…

Are lawmakers, judges and other public officials in Arizona taking bribes from the Sinaloa cartel and fixing elections? No, there's no reliable evidence that's true: Jacqueline Breger, an insurance agent who made the allegations during a joint meeting of the Arizona House and Senate elections committees on February 23, 2023, did not provide credible proof to back up her explosive…

Did nearly a quarter of a million voting attempts fail in the November 8, 2022, election in Arizona and did that impact the vote count? No, that's not true: The communications director for the Maricopa County Elections Department called the allegation "textbook disinformation." While many ballots were scanned and rescanned multiple times, the votes were ultimately counted. Arizona Secretary of…

Did former President Donald Trump endorse Florida Rep. Byron Donalds for House speaker? No, that's not true: Trump, himself, says the claim is false. He described the statement making the claim as a forgery and a fake. Trump has publicly endorsed California Rep. Kevin McCarthy for the coveted House position. The claim appeared on Twitter (archived here) on January 4,…

The year is almost over, so it is good to look back. First, the numbers, as of December 15, 2022. This year we have published 1,555 fact checks in English (so far ...) 283 fact checks about COVID misinformation; 244 debunks of Russian propaganda and false claims about the invasion of Ukraine; 140 debunks of false claims about election fraud,…

Did the Brazilian military kill the leaders of the Red Command cartel in early December 2022, and prepare to "take over" the country? No, that's not true: The article circulating on social media that makes these claims contains multiple factual inaccuracies and recycled false claims. The claim appeared in an article published by thegatewaypundit.com on December 5, 2022 (archived here.)…

Does a sudden decrease in the displayed vote tally for U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker during Fox News coverage of Georgia's December 6, 2022, runoff election prove that voter fraud occurred? No, that's not true: Human error by the Associated Press (AP), the news organization that provides voting data for multiple networks, including Fox News, was responsible for the change…

Were ZIP codes for 31,000 mail-in ballots changed before they were sent out, quietly changed back when they were returned as undeliverable and then fraudulently used to vote in Arizona? No, that's not true: The secretary of state's office told Lead Stories the claims were incorrect and baseless. An election expert said they had never heard of a situation involving…

If Arizonans voted primarily for Republican candidates in the November 8, 2022, election, but a Democrat still won the race for governor, was the election rigged? No, that's not true: Election data from past years show ticket-splitting is common in Arizona. An Arizona pollster with two decades experience tracking election data told Lead Stories it is not unusual for the…

Does a large drop in Wisconsin's active military votes between 2020 and 2022 suggest fraud? No, that's not true: There's no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Turnout can vary greatly from election to election, especially whether they're presidential, primary or midterm ballots. Also, the 2020 election set a modern record for the highest overall voter…