Trump posted a string of messages on Truth Social Tuesday afternoon claiming without evidence that fraud was taking place and falsely suggested that the 'same' voter fraud 'as happened in 2020' was happening with these elections. At least one election denial group, 2020 is Nullified, has already reportedly planned election protests this evening in multiple Arizona countries. Some right-wing commentators with large followings have also shared videos of election day scenes in Arizona - such as officials painstakingly explaining what's happening with the voting machines - and added suggestive descriptions implying fraud.

Around mid-afternoon county officials followed up with another statement that they had identified the issue, according to NPR, and changed the printer settings on the voting tabulators to address it.ĭespite county officials saying these votes would still be counted after the polls close, a volley of far-right commentators and politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene have seized on the issue to spread baseless claims of election fraud. Maricopa County officials - including the chair of its board of supervisors, who is a Republican - stated that around 20% of the voting locations were experiencing issues. On election day, these channels and forums lit up with false claims of election fraud - many of the users still spreading the disproven claim that Trump was cheated out of victory in the 2020 election, along with other forms of misinformation like anti-vaccine falsehoods.Ī good deal of the false claims and baseless conspiracy theories circulating in far-right online spaces about Tuesday's midterm elections surround Maricopa County in Arizona, which experienced a 'technical glitch' earlier today that led to some votes not being correctly tabulated, according to CNN. Online spaces dedicated to support for former President Donald Trump or belief in QAnon are filled with people who tend to be primed to follow and propagate baseless conspiracy theories. Even before polls closed and many states began releasing vote counts on Tuesday, far-right users in Telegram channels and fringe forums were spreading conspiracy theories and itching to declare the midterm elections fraudulent.

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