Typo in Trump’s Name on Ballot Review Screen Is Not ‘Election Fraud’
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Quick Take
A misspelling of former President Donald Trump’s name occurred on an optional ballot review screen in Virginia, prompting an unfounded claim on social media of “election fraud.” The error was a typo that appeared only on the ballot review screen, not on actual ballots, and would not affect any votes, election officials said.
Full Story
Virginia’s voting process includes an optional ballot review screen, which is designed to display a voter’s selections before a ballot is cast. The optional screen helps voters verify their choices and correct any errors.
But a video shared on social media that shows a misspelling on a ballot review screen has raised unfounded allegations of voter fraud in Virginia’s Washington County.
An Oct. 29 post on Instagram shows a video with former President Donald Trump’s name misspelled as “Triump” on a ballot review screen. The accompanying text claims, “This was a voter in Virginia 4 days ago. Why is there an I in Donald J Trump’s name?”
The X account RealAF Patriot shared the video with a message that read, “ELECTION FRAUD IN VIRGINIA!? A voter shows that they have Trump spelled incorrectly as Triump. Is that so votes won’t register for Trump?” The post received more than 3 million views, according to the platform.
Andrea M. Gaines, a spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Elections, told us in an email that the misspelling of Trump’s name occurred on equipment in Washington County. “We cannot confirm the origin of the video,” she said.
But Gaines said the “review screen does not affect tabulation of ballots or reporting of results.”
Derek N. Lyall, director of elections and general registrar for Washington County, told us in an email, “All Washington County voters cast their votes on paper ballots. The names of all candidates are spelled properly on the paper ballots.”
Lyall explained that the misspelling was a typographical error on the optional ballot review screen, which only activates if a voter specifically requests it before inserting a ballot. “Out of 10,000+ voters who have cast their ballots in Washington County, fewer than twenty voters have requested to utilize this optional ballot review screen,” he noted.
Lyall said the error was discovered too late to reprogram the voting equipment for the election. However, he said all voting equipment had been thoroughly tested and was operating as intended. “Our equipment is operating as designed and is tabulating ballots in accordance with voters’ choices. The single typographical error on the optional ballot review screen will have no effect on anyone’s vote,” he said.
Lyall also said a notice would be posted in every polling place advising voters of this error on Election Day.
Virginia has voted for a Democrat in the last four presidential elections. In 2020, Trump lost the state by 10 percentage points, but overwhelmingly won Washington County with 75.6% of the vote.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here. Facebook has no control over our editorial content.
Sources
270 to Win. “Virginia: Recent Presidential Elections.” Accessed 5 Nov 2024.
Murphy, Joe. “Two charts and a map to help make sense of all the early voting data.” NBC News. 4 Nov 2024.
Gaines, Andrea. External affairs manager, Virginia Department of Elections. Email to FactCheck.org. 4 Nov 2024.
Lyall, Derek N. Director of elections and general registrar, Washington County, Virginia. Email to FactCheck.org. 4 Nov 2024.
Virginia Public Access Project. “Early Voting in Virginia.” Accessed 5 Nov 2024.
