Voting Rights

Did 113 non-citizens vote in Washington, D.C., in the June 2024 primary election that included presidential primary balloting? Yes, but saying they voted in the "2024 Presidential Primary" is misleading, according to a spokesperson for the D.C. elections board who said non-citizen D.C. residents cannot cast ballots for presidential candidates. Their ballots only contained checkboxes for local offices, as is…

Did Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sign into law a new definition of "sexual orientation" to protect adults who are physically and sexually attracted to children? No, that's not true: Pedophilia is not considered a legally protected sexual orientation in Minnesota. Changes to the law removed some language specifically excluding pedophilia from the definition of protected sexual orientations. But, that does…

Did the San Francisco City Council appoint to the Board of Elections someone who a social media post called an "illegal immigrant"? No, that's not true: The person who was appointed to a commission in San Francisco is a "legal immigrant," the president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors told Lead Stories. And the person was not appointed to…

Does an entity named the Depository Trust and Clearing Company own "all stocks" in the stock market? No, that's not true: It owns a subsidiary, the Depository Trust Company, whose function is to be a depository for securities. This subsidiary records other people's and companies' ownership. Neither the DTCC nor the DTC eliminates ownership rights of legitimate shareholders. The claim…

Was there a massive vote discrepancy found in the 2022 Arizona midterm election? No, that's not true: An election expert told Lead Stories the claims of vote discrepancy were "100% false." The Arizona Secretary of State spokesperson said the claim falsely used a "static" voter registration list versus a list that showed accurate updates from election day that provides information…

Did Alex Soros, son of billionaire businessman and philanthropist George Soros, say in an interview that he wanted to "eradicate conservatives from the Internet" and that he is "100 times worse" than his father? No, that's not true: In a Wall Street Journal article that featured an interview with the younger Soros, Alex Soros is never quoted as mentioning conservatives…

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.)…

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…

Will Michigan Proposal 2 give "violent felons" the right to vote from prison? No, that's not true: The proposal, which was on the state's ballot and passed during the 2022 midterm election, does not affect imprisoned people's ability to vote. Rather, it amends Michigan's Constitution to add various voting rights that are unrelated to prisoners. The claim appeared in a…

Does California allow non-citizens to vote for congressional representatives, and does the state refuse to cooperate with the "Federal Election Integrity Program"? No, that's not true: California law does not give non-citizens the ability to vote in congressional elections. The California Constitution and the Secretary of State, who ranks as California's "Chief Elections Officer," specify that a person has to…