A baseless voting claim is being amplified by a network of social media accounts

Source: NPR

October 30, 2024 6:00 AM ET


A network of accounts on the social media site X claims to be foreign nationals who have illegally voted in the U.S. presidential election, according to new research from the nonprofit Institute for Strategic Dialogue. The accounts give multiple signs of coordination, drawing the attention of researchers in the final stretch of election.

Some of the accounts have shared images of ballots alongside passports, including from countries that no longer exist, including the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and Prussia, the disinformation and extremism research organization reported. The accounts are reinforcing baseless narratives about voter fraud promoted by former President Donald Trump and his allies. The most popular post, sporting an image of a French passport, has racked up more than 12 million views on X, formerly Twitter.

ISD said that the first post from the network was published on Oct. 22, not long after Republicans filed lawsuits challenging overseas voters’ ballots in a few swing states. Those lawsuits cast doubt on the eligibility of some overseas voters. Trump falsely claimed in a social media post in September that Democrats intended to use overseas ballots to “CHEAT” and manipulate the election results. The lawsuits have not found success in the courts.

The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, or UOCAVA, lets states set up systems to allow military members and American citizens living overseas to vote. The allegations surrounding the law are part of a larger narrative that the election will be stolen from Trump through a combination of lax voting laws and the possibility that noncitizens will illegally vote in large numbers and swing the very tight presidential race.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2024/10/29/nx-s1-5171438/social-media-voting-conspiracies-noncitizens