No, Using Sharpies on Election Ballots Doesn’t Invalidate Your Vote

Claims that ballots for the U.S. presidential election will be invalid if a voter uses a Sharpie marker circulated online in October 2024. 

One X user wrote: “Do not use a sharpie to mark your ballot even if the polling place makes you. Take your own pen. Sharpie ballots are not counted!!”

Another user echoed this claim, posting: “Never use a Sharpie to mark your ballot. It will invalidate your vote. If they give you a marker, refuse it.”

Never use a Sharpie to mark your ballot. It will invalidate your vote. If they give you a marker, refuse it. #PassItOn

— Anne Veritas (@anneveritas) October 13, 2024

Similar claims have circulated in the past. In November 2020, a false rumor that Arizona polling places gave certain voters Sharpie markers in order to invalidate their votes for candidate Donald Trump made national headlines.

Likewise, in November 2022, people falsely stated Sharpies were not cleared for ballot use in the state of Illinois. 

The most recent claims, like those in previous years, are false.

In 2020, The Associated Press fact-checked the claims regarding Sharpies in Arizona. AP said the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors “published a letter to voters expressing concern about misinformation” regarding Sharpies. The news agency reported that officials tested a “wide variety of pens with their vote-tabulation equipment” and that the board said the pens “are recommended by the manufacturer because they provide the fastest-drying ink.”

The claims were so widespread that Arizona’s Clean Elections Commission, a nonpartisan committee that functions as the administrator of the Citizens Clean Elections Act that voters passed in 1998, created a page on their website debunking the rumor. According to the site: 

Any regular ballot cast at the polling place will be counted. Sharpies are actually the recommended pen for filling out a ballot at the polling place in Maricopa County. This is different from previous years since Maricopa County purchased new election equipment. Sharpies work best as the ink dries the fastest, which is better for the tabulation machine to read when the voter places their voted ballot into the tabulator at the polls. Also, if there is any bleed through, it would not impact other races due to the ballot design. The county specifically purchased the pens supplied by poll workers, which were issued to ALL voters.

In addition, Maricopa County Elections posted an explainer video on its YouTube account.

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During the midterm elections in 2022, the Illinois State Board of Elections (SBE) debunked similar claims in a post on its verified X account. 

If you’re given a felt-tip pen today while voting, don’t be concerned. Many voting systems prefer them as a ballot marking device. #ElectionDay #Election2022 pic.twitter.com/JKcTrgcqPu

— Illinois SBE (@illinoissbe) November 8, 2022

Other official accounts have addressed similar rumors in the past, including the Facebook page for Michigan’s Secretary of State in 2020.

Further, California’s Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters website said: “The voting system works well with a Sharpie type of marker and is the recommended type of ballot marking pen you should use to mark your ballot as the ink dries fast and is easily detected by the ballot tabulator.” 

Many other counties throughout the United States have posted information regarding the use of Sharpies on their websites as a result of the ongoing spread of this rumor, including Montgomery County in Pennsylvania and San Bernardino County in California. 

Snopes has fact-checked many allegations of voter fraud, including supposed duplicate ballots in Madison, Wisconsin, voting systems allegedly deleting millions of votes for Trump, and 10 million mail-in ballots allegedly being “lost” in California’s 2022 midterm elections. 

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