Voting Machines

Did "Stefan Serafini," a purported foreign service officer in Rome, work with Barack Obama, former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and others to rig the 2020 election? No, that's not true: There's no evidence to support the international conspiracy theory that, among other claims, recycles debunked claims that software was used to flip votes in favor of Joe Biden. Almost…

Did someone hack into the electronic voting system being used in Georgia for the January 5, 2020, U.S. Senate runoff races? No, Georgia election officials say that's not true: The digital poll book was not even in use on December 30, 2020, the day J. Hutton Pulitzer told lawmakers he had hacked his way into it. On two occasions since…

Were ballots used in Republican areas of Georgia different from ballots used in Democratic areas of the state, resulting in a rigged election? No, that's not true: A purported elections expert -- who the Georgia secretary of state's office described as a "failed treasure hunter" -- claimed that since ballots have a unique bar code for each precinct, that "caused…

Did a pro-Trump "operative" uncover thousands of counterfeit November 2020 Fulton County ballots stored in an Atlanta warehouse? No, that's not true: Photos of boxes of ballots showed emergency paper ballots stored in the warehouse as back-ups in the event voting machines failed on election day. Election rules require each county to hold emergency ballots equal to at least 10%…

Did some California counties allow voters to use ImageCast Remote software to mark their mail-in ballots? Yes, that's true, but election officials insist the system is secure from fraud. The ImageCast Remote system allows voters to download a ballot on their personal computing devices, mark that ballot with their choices and then print or save that ballot and send it…

Was Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS) the target of the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville, Tennessee? No, that's not true: Sungard AS has not had a Nashville presence since May 2015. "Accordingly, there was not any impact to Sungard AS by the Nashville explosion," a spokeswoman told Lead Stories. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on…

Did the AT&T data center in Nashville, Tennessee, damaged by a Christmas morning bomb have a contract to audit Dominion voting machines? No, that's not true: An AT&T spokesman confirmed to Lead Stories via email there is no such contract. We've also been unable to find any documentation that any company has a contract to audit voting machines. The claim…

Does an advertising video titled "The Plot To Steal America" contain hard evidence of election fraud? No, that's not true: the 18-minute pitch contains allegations based on video clips purporting to show "evidence" but several of these clips do not actually show what is being claimed. The announcer repeats 11 already-debunked claims in the opening five minutes, then tells viewers…

Is Joe Biden's sister married to Stephen Owens, whose company owns Dominion Voting Systems? No, that's not true: Valerie Biden Owens is not married to Stephen Owens, according to a Dominion spokeswoman and numerous news accounts about the Biden family. Biden's only sister is married to John (Jack) Owens, who owns a Delaware-based telemedicine company, according to The Washington Post…

Did a computer analyst prove voting software used in Antrim County, Michigan was designed with inherent errors to create systemic fraud? No, that's not true: The expert making the claims has not been put under oath nor cross-examined, provides no witnesses and officials say he does not have access to the data needed to make the calculations he presents. Michigan's…