As the US approaches Election Day, a flurry of misinformation has taken over social media, and experts observing the voting event are concerned about the widespread impact on voters.

As the two presidential candidates, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump make their final electoral proposals, a wave of rumors, misleading claims and lies are simultaneously trying to undermine their campaigns.

Hundreds of posts by individuals, Republican supporters and Democratic groups on social media are straining election officials who must take time from their regular polling duties to debunk the rumors.

What do the posts say?

Among the most viral social media posts that caught the attention of American voters are:

• Posts supporting the Trump campaign’s claim that he won the 2020 election and that it wouldn’t be a surprise if he lost this election by “cheating”. Earlier this week, the former president himself blasted cheating in key swing states, saying, “Pennsylvania is cheating and being caught, on a scale never seen before. REPORT FRAUD TO THE AUTHORITIES. Law enforcement must act, NOW!” His reaction was in response to three Pennsylvania counties that said they would work with local law enforcement to identify bogus voter registration applications.

• Some posts verified by BBC imply that it is easy for non-citizens to cast their vote, while others falsely claim that voting machines are ineffective. Many of these allegations are made on social networking sites and chat groups that are viewed by millions of people

• One particular video showed Haitians casting their votes in Georgia. This was denied by US officials last week, who said the video was made by “Russian influencers”. Another post on X showed a Canadian citizen voting, as he said: “Thought I’d drive across the border and vote”

Cases of exaggeration

Experts note that isolated cases of ballot fraud and administrative errors are a common occurrence in US presidential elections, which span all 50 states and in 2020 involved more than 150 million voters.

Authorities have even acknowledged isolated cases of ballot fraud, but say they are being over-shared on social media, making the problem bigger than it really is.

In Southern California, dozens of ballots were discovered in a drain. Although the circumstances surrounding the incident were unclear, online partisans were quick to speculate that it was an act of deliberate fraud.

Who is behind these posts?

There are several groups and individuals, regardless of their allegiance to Democrats or Republicans, who are responsible for skewing voter decisions.

Organizations like Texas-based True The Vote, founded in 2009, have been at the forefront of raising concerns about election security. On their app, VoteAlert, advocates share examples of alleged election irregularities.

“Our hope is that we see exactly nothing at these drop boxes,” said True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht.

Elon Musk’s America Political Action Committee has launched a message board-like community on X that is full of rumors and accusations about the vote. With 50,000 members, new posts are made almost non-stop, with more appearing every minute.

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