No voter fraud proved in Kentucky machine failure video

Published on November 6, 2024 at 00:08
4 min read
By Nahiara S. ALONSO, AFP USA
Translation and adaptation Gwen ROLEY

A video showing a voter unable to select Donald Trump's name on a voting machine in Kentucky does not provide evidence of election interference as claimed in widely viewed social media posts. Officials said an error could result from hitting a spot on the touchscreen between two candidates, but that the machines allow voters to review and correct any mistakes before a ballot is finalized, and that the person in the clip made the correction.

"Some voting machines in Kentucky are NOT ALLOWING voters to select President Trump," claims the caption of a November 1, 2024 Threads video.

The clip appears to show a person unsuccessfully attempting to select the Republican candidate's name on a screen before the display highlights the name of Democrat Kamala Harris. Posts viewed thousands of times with the same video and similar claims that it depicted cheating spread across Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok in multiple languages including, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, German, Vietnamese and French.

Screenshot of an X post taken November 5, 2024

Screenshot of an Instagram post taken November 5, 2024

Misinformation about election interference ricocheted across the Internet during early voting ahead of Election Day, including false claims of technology flipping votes in Arkansas and Georgia.

Similarly, the faulty selection seen in the video of the Kentucky machine was the result of an individual glitch and not a widespread problem.

Tony Brown, the county clerk of Laurel County, Kentucky (archived here), explained in an October 31 post on Facebook that the state's attorney general's office assessed the specific machine seen in the video and was able to replicate the error by hitting areas between the boxes (archived here).

"There were no claims of any issues with the device prior, and none since it went back into service," Brown wrote. "The voter who posted the video did cast her ballot which she said was correct."

No other machines affected

While Brown shared what he said was a clip of the same machine functioning correctly, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said on X that his office had recommended they change out the machine (archived here and here). He reiterated confidence in election security in an October 31 statement (archived here).

The Kentucky State Board of Elections also commented on the incident and ensuing investigation and confirmed the voter was able to make her desired choice (archived here). It said it was not able to identify any other errors with the technology.

"Over 1,700 voters in Laurel County cast their ballots properly on October 31, 2024, and neither the State Board of Elections nor the Laurel County Clerk were made aware of any other reports of issues," the board said in a November 1 statement.

'Digital pen'

James Young, an expert on election accessibility options (archived here), identified the machine as an ExpressVote ballot marker by Election Systems & Software (ES&S), which allows users to digitally select their choices to be printed before being cast (archived here).

"It is essentially a digital pen. It actually doesn't count votes," he told AFP on November 1.

Young, who previously served as the Director of Elections in Louisville, Kentucky, explained the security measures taken to ensure there is no interference with the technology.

"It is kept under physical security throughout the year, including physical election security seals during the election and surveilled by the County Clerk and law enforcement when not in use," he said. "Only County Clerk and trained poll workers, who take an Oath under state law, operate this equipment."

ES&S said by email that the error seen in the video is rare but can occur when a voter does not press the screen in the right place (archived here). Spokeswoman Katina Granger said the machines do not switch votes.

"Voting machines are designed to accurately capture a voter's choices and allow them to see and verify those choices on screen and on a paper ballot before casting that paper for tabulation," she said on November 4. "There is no scenario in which a voter would be forced to cast a ballot that they believe did not reflect their intentions."

Read more of AFP's coverage of 2024 election misinformation here.