Fact Check: Misleading Voter Fraud Claims in Kentucky Sweep Social Media

Allegations of voter fraud and election interference have begun in early voting, following years of unfounded claims surrounding the result of the 2020 presidential race.
Former President Donald Trump continues to insist he won the 2020 election despite this claim being repeatedly rejected in court and by independent election experts. A recent study from the Brookings Institute think tank concluded that fraudulent vote share in elections over the past 25 years was “minuscule.”
However, a video of one voter in Kentucky struggling to select a candidate on a touchscreen was treated as supposed evidence of “election interference” on social media.
The Claim
A post on X, formerly Twitter, by user @AmericaPapaBear, on October 31, 2024, viewed 6.1 million times, said, “🚨🚨🚨BREAKING🚨🚨🚨
“Voting machines in Kentucky are literally changing the vote from Donald Trump to Kamala Harris.
“This is ELECTION INTERFERENCE!
“Share this video out so everyone can see!”
The post showed what looked like someone trying to select Donald Trump on a voting screen but highlighting Kamala Harris instead.
The Facts
Although the video is real, there is no evidence of election interference. The issue was reported to election officials at the location where the video was recorded and resolved.
According to the Kentucky newspaper Lexington Herald-Leader, the issue was reported in Laurel County earlier this week.
The County Clerk, Republican Tony Brown, said on Facebook that the attorney general’s office had visited the vote center in response and found that the highlighting of the wrong box was caused by hitting areas between candidates.
Brown said the machine was a ballot marking device, whereby voters insert their ballot into a machine from where they can select the candidate, posting a video on Facebook of the machine working correctly.
Once voters make their choice, their ballot is returned to them. They can review their choice by putting it into a scanner.
“This is the same machine used by the voter in the video,” Brown said. “It remained at its location in the vote center and was set face down until the representative from the Attorney General’s Office arrived to investigate. There were no claims of any issues with the device prior, and none since it went back into service. The voter who posted the video did cast her ballot which she said was correct.”
Brown added, “I hate that this has occurred here in Laurel County.”
In a follow-up video, in which he showed how to use the ballot marking machine, he said that while pressing the wrong part of the screen could highlight the wrong candidate, voters could go back and correct their mistake.
The Ruling
False.
The video is not evidence of election interference.
The County Clerk where the video was recorded said the issue was caused by pressing the wrong part of the screen, a mistake that could be corrected by selecting the intended candidate.
The person who posted the video confirmed to the County Clerk that their vote was correctly recorded.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team