FACT CHECK: Viral X Post Uses Typo To Make Claim About Election Interference In Virginia
A viral video shared on X claims a typo that appears on a ballot review screen on a voting machine in Virginia is indicative of election interference.
Attention!
This voter in Virginia got video footage of her election machine.
Why is there an ‘I’ in Donald Trump’s name?
Is this some sort of election interference?
— AmericanPapaBear (@AmericaPapaBear) October 28, 2024
Verdict: False
The claim is false. A spokesperson for Washington County, Virginia, where the incident occurred, denied the claim’s validity in an email to Check Your Fact.
Fact Check:
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 2024 Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris’ lead over 2024 Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump has “dwindled,” the outlet reported. According to the three-day poll, Harris is just one point ahead of Trump at 44% to 43%, the outlet indicated.
The video, viewed over 500,000 times as of writing, claims a typo that appears on a ballot review screen on a voting machine in Virginia is indicative of election interference.
“Attention! This voter in Virginia got video footage of her election machine,” the video’s caption begins. “Why is there an ‘I’ in Donald Trump’s name? Is this some sort of election interference?” it continues. In the same video, Trump’s name appears to be misspelled on the voting machine’s ballot review screen.
The claim is false. The Virginia Project, a Republican political action committee (PAC), shared a statement via their verified X account indicating the typo would not affect “any votes or the counting thereof.” The PAC also noted that the incident had occurred in Washington County.
“This happened in Washington County. There’s a typo in the receipt screen on the tabulator, it will not affect any votes or the counting thereof. The risk of error is higher in reprogramming and retesting than just leaving it as is,” the PAC’s statement read in part.
OK this has been fully investigated and resolved as much as it’s going to be.
This happened in Washington County. There’s a typo in the receipt screen on the tabulator, it will not affect any votes or the counting thereof. The risk of error is higher in reprogramming and… https://t.co/UnizcvcqdV
— Virginia Project (@ProjectVirginia) October 29, 2024
Likewise, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports suggesting the typo is indicative of election interference. Actually, the opposite is true. On Oct. 30, Lead Stories reported the claim was false, citing both the statement from the Virginia Project and a link to a sample ballot from Washington County, Virginia, which showed Trump’s name spelled correctly. (RELATED: No, Voters In Maine Cannot Vote For The Same Candidate Twice)
Furthermore, Derek Lyall, director of elections and general registrar for Washington County, Virginia, denied the claim’s validity in an email to Check Your Fact.
“All Washington County voters cast their votes on paper ballots. The names of all candidates are spelled properly on the paper ballots.
We discovered last week that there is a typographical error on an optional ballot review screen on our voting equipment. The ballot review screen is only activated if a voter requests it before inserting their ballot. The review screen displays the choices that the voter selected on their paper ballot,” Lyall said.
“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. Unfortunately, by the time the error was discovered, it was too late to reprogram the voting equipment for the election.
All of our voting equipment has been thoroughly tested. 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.
On Election Day, a notice will be posted in each of our polling places advising voters of this error,” he added.
