Crowdsourced claims of election fraud flood social media ahead of US elections

The flood of claims of election fraud spreading on social media has been fueled by a network of groups crowdsourcing accusations.

Groups like Texas-based True The Vote, founded in 2009, have long been at the forefront of questioning election security.

In the VoteAlert app, developed by True the Vote, supporters post examples of alleged election irregularities.

They collected a wide range of claims: from minor security violations to accusations of deliberate voter fraud. The organization also has people monitoring live cameras that have been pointed at ballot boxes in a number of states. Many local officials have repeatedly described the steps they have taken to ensure the safety of the boxes.

“We hope we don’t see anything in those mailboxes,” True the Vote founder Katherine Engelbrecht said during one of her recent regular online meetings for supporters.

But she also hinted that Democratic-leaning groups are seeking to commit election fraud on a massive scale.

“If they want to try to pull off what we saw them pull off in 2020, they’re unlikely to get away with it because we literally have eyes everywhere,” she added.

The BBC has contacted True the Vote for comment.

A number of other groups ask their supporters to report suspected abuses.

Elon Musk’s America Political Action Committee has created a message board-like community on X filled with rumors and allegations about voting. With 50,000 members, several posts appear every minute, almost around the clock.

Other efforts include the Election Integrity Network, a group founded by a former Trump lawyer that challenges voter registration and recruits poll watchers, partisan observers who visit polling places.

The volume of posts on these platforms—along with the vagueness of some claims, often with anonymous sources—makes it nearly impossible to verify every claim.

The groups and Trump campaign say the efforts are aimed solely at ensuring the integrity of the vote. The BBC has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.