Local officials play a leading role in managing elections in our country. Overall, they are trusted because they understand their communities and how best to serve their constituents. However, bad faith actors and conspiracy theorists are increasingly spreading dangerous myths about election officials and how elections are conducted. This made doing their job more difficult and dangerous.
As a former election official who worked in Georgia, Texas, and Washington, D.C., I’m here to set the record straight about the many misconceptions that harm our democracy.
Myth: Certification of election results is optional.
Fact: Certification is required by law.
Confirming election results, also known as certification, is a routine administrative step that occurs at the end of the vote counting process. This occurs when members of the Board of Elections vote to submit the results to the Secretary of State. This step, imposed in all 50 states and territories, ensures that the accounts are correct. It is not an investigation into the integrity of the election, nor is it an option.
Before certification, election officials have already taken a series of mandatory steps to ensure votes are accurately counted and problems or questions about irregularities are resolved. Ensuring the integrity of the election is already part of the process.
In recent years, some members of the Election Board have refused to certify the election results. This tactic, carried out under the guise of “ensuring election integrity,” is actually intended to sow seeds of mistrust among the public. Refusing to certify delays election results within an already tight timeline and disrupts a system that has proven effective for decades. In addition to these challenges It doesn’t work– They constantly fail in court and Those who brought them faced criminal prosecution.
Myth: Our electoral processes are not secure.
Fact: Safeguards against election fraud and interference exist, and they are effective.
Each state has strict security laws and protocols to protect elections. After each election cycle, officials review and develop these protocols and implement new laws passed by their state legislature. Since 2020, 92% of election officials Important steps have been taken to increase election security and strengthen infrastructure.
Local election officials test voting equipment before Election Day, update the voter list, and prepare public reports on election results. On election night, officials have serial procedures for all ballots, ensure security protocols are implemented at polling places, and verify that all eligible ballots are counted. Maintaining the integrity of elections is an essential part of their job.
Unfortunately, mail-in ballots and drop boxes, tools that increase access to voting and make it easier for citizens to participate in elections, have faced baseless attacks. Comprehensive investigations You always find it safe and reliable.
Myth: Trivial challenges have no cost.
Fact: Challenges and threats posed by bad faith actors drain domestic resources and can result in significant costs to taxpayers.
Frivolous legal challenges and serial open enrollment requests by bad actors drain resources, diverting time and energy from core electoral tasks.
During my time as an election official, we routinely received five to 10 open records requests a day, resulting in us having to respond to hundreds in the lead-up to the election.
While officials pride themselves on transparency and welcome legitimate open record requests, weaponizing these requests distracts from the real work of running elections — and taxpayers ultimately bear the cost.
Myth: People commit widespread voter fraud.
Fact: People don’t vote in multiple places, they register where they don’t live, Or cast a vote illegally as a non-citizen.
Despite the spread of the myth and studies and research The Brennan Center and other reputable nonpartisan and partisan organizations show that actual voter fraud is extremely rare and nearly impossible to achieve.
Claims that people vote illegally or cast multiple ballots simply do not hold up. In my experience as an election official, I have never seen noncitizens attempt to vote, and when registration errors occurred, those errors were inadvertent.
In addition, there are many controls in place to ensure that voters are American citizens. States confirm voters’ identities using information from the federal Social Security Administration as well as the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Claims of widespread mail-in ballot fraud are also exaggerated. Jurisdictions follow strict processes for validating and counting mail-in ballots, ensuring that only eligible votes are included. (However, the real flaw in our system is that too many votes are disqualified for trivial reasons.)
Myth: Administrative errors are a sign of fraud.
Fact: Errors are rare and occasional, and there are processes to identify and correct them.
Despite their best efforts, election administrators will face administrative challenges because elections are large-scale, human-driven processes staffed by people who often participate only a few days out of the year. Accordingly, there are procedures in place to detect and correct potential administrative errors before results are certified, including reviewing and double-checking candidate information, ballot preparation, ballot scheduling, and election night reporting.
Despite challenges to the election results on grounds Administrative errors Since the 2022 election, very few election results have been overturned, and not because of fraud.
Myths about fraud and abuse may make headlines but they do not represent reality. Our electoral system is among the safest and most secure in the world. This is made possible by a strong, durable, and transparent system full of safeguards and processes followed by thousands of election administrators who work day in and day out to ensure every vote is counted fairly. As Election Day approaches, it’s important that we put faith in our election officials and the system — and ignore the noise and frivolous accusations.
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