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False claim of no results on Election Day indicates fraud

Posted on by Pranco
False claim of no results on Election Day indicates fraud

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The claim: Delayed election results in Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania are evidence of voter fraud

A discussion post from October 22 (direct link, archive link) claims that expected delays in vote counting in some states are evidence of fraud.

“BREAKING: The Cheat Has Begun,” the message reads. The states of Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania have officially announced that they will not have election results available on election night.”

In nine days it was liked more than 600 times.

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Our rating: False

Although election officials in Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania have said vote counting won’t be finished on Election Day, experts say that’s not evidence of fraud. It has historically taken states days or weeks to finalize election results due to various requirements to ensure the accuracy of the count.

Election officials are asking for patience as votes are counted

Multiple polls show that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are in one close race in the seven battleground statesincluding Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania. In those three states, election officials explained what to expect — and not expect — on Election Day.

In Georgia there is one new law Requires results of “all early votes and early accepted ballots” to be reported one hour after polls close, Secretary of State says Brad Raffensperger told CBS News. The state allows election workers Start counting the ballots at 7 a.m. on Election Day.

“That’s 70%, maybe even 75% of all vote totals will be reported by 8 p.m. on election night,” Raffensperger said, also pointing out. foreign ballots can be received until November 8.

In 2020, President Joe Biden won Georgia by about 12,000 votes. The Associated Press did not Call the state for Biden until November 19, 2020, more than two weeks after the polls closed. State officials the results certified on November 20, 2020.

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Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said she expects unofficial results in her state to be available by the end of day Nov. 6, the day after Election Day.

“But that said, we will always prioritize accuracy and safety over efficiency,” Benson said CBS News. “Because we understand how badly people want these results, we will still ensure the process is safe and accurate before releasing anything to the public.”

Biden won Michigan in 2020 by about 154,000 votes. The AP called the breed November 4, 2020, one day after Election Day, and election officials confirmed Biden’s victory November 23, 2020.

Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt told NPR it’s unlikely a winner will be known by Election Day in the state, in part because of a state law that doesn’t allow election workers to open mail-in ballots until that morning.

Schmidt also warned of the potential for false and misleading information to spread as votes are being counted.

“The message is: be patient,” Schmidt said CBS News. “Our counties are working day and night to count the votes of their voters. They do this as quickly as they can, and with integrity.”

Biden won Pennsylvania in 2020 by about 81,000 votes. The AP called the state for Biden on November 7, 2020, four days after Election Day, and his victory was certified by government officials November 24, 2020.

States often take days or weeks to announce election results

The growth in popularity of mail-in ballots has extended the time it takes for the media to project the winners of specific races in recent years. It is not unusual for state officials to spend days or weeks finalizing election results.

David Becker, executive director of the independent Center for Election Innovation & Research, previously told USA TODAY that the counting of votes has not been completed on Election Day in any state or at any time in the nation’s history.

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The results released to the public on Election Day come largely from that day’s in-person voting, along with early in-person voting and preprocessed mail-in ballots.

“Media outlets generally feel confident that they are calling the race when the partial unofficial results they receive, combined with exit polls and sufficient margins, allow them to project with confidence that the remaining votes yet to be counted will exceed the margin cannot exceed,” said Becker.

But states typically do not certify election results until days or weeks after Election Day, making them official.

“Some states certify the next week, some states take more than three weeks,” Becker said. “All results up to this point are unofficial and partial results.”

The election process may take longer if results are close. That happened during the 2000 presidential election, when “logical voting problems, including faulty ballot design, allegations of miscounting and debates in court” caused the process to take five weeks — the longest election in modern American history. USA TODAY reported this.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

PolitiFact And Leading stories has also debunked the claim.

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