Mishaps in Michigan spur Trump allies to spread misleading election claims

In the closely watched battleground state of Michigan, election officials are under the microscope, with isolated mistakes or missteps serving as fodder for election deniers to lay the groundwork for widespread doubt of election results.

In the closely watched battleground state of Michigan, election officials are under the microscope, with isolated mistakes or missteps serving as fodder for election deniers to lay the groundwork for widespread doubt of election results. Several incidents this week – ranging from an isolated case of an illegal ballot cast to human errors from the secretary of state’s office that have since been corrected – have shown how conspiracy theorists have been unrelenting in their attempts to suggest something far more sinister is underway. “For those of us who run elections, it’s a stressful time anyway and we really worry about this situation and these kinds of stories spiraling out of control,” Washtenaw County clerk Lawrence Kestenbaum, a Democrat, said. “Psychologically, having people impugning the process and so forth is stressful.” Despite extensive efforts at transparency and attempts to swiftly correct the record for the public in Michigan, the incidents have already been amplified online to suggest systemic cheating and fraud in the election, making it difficult to reel in original misleading claims. Although Michigan has had a smooth and strong start to its statewide early in-person voting this week, the state also faced several incidents that point to the ease with which small cases can be amplified on social media to suggest otherwise. On Wednesday morning, confusion over the number of ballots cast in the state was sparked because of a formatting error that has since been corrected, with no extra votes counted, according to the Michigan secretary of state’s office.