Post-Election Misinfo

Created
Sun, 10/11/2024 - 01:00
Updated
Sun, 10/11/2024 - 01:00
A Public Service Pronouncement Please don’t spread conspiracy fantasies about the election, okay? TikTok and X are rocking with these two videos below (at least). They are — let’s not be polite about it — bullshit. Before I even debunk them, let’s be clear again: This is bullshit, a live-fire exercise in a little bit of knowledge being a dangerous thing. The TikToks allege that these people looked up their ballot status on Vote dor org and found nothing: “Please go check your ballot status. I just checked mine and my vote did not count! ” Look, I’ve been doing election work a long time. What typical voters don’t know about the election process could fill libraries. Item #1: The video above has (of now) 1.2M engagements and 2k comments on TikTok, and 206k views on X. Her followup video notes that she’s in Washington state (voting there is virtually all by mail). She reports that her ballot status shows only “ballot mailed” and “ballot received, but not that it’s reviewed and accepted. “As far as I am concerned, no. It doesn’t mean that it’s accepted,” says thewindwitch. That much is right. The election is not official in Washington until after the canvass, Tuesday, November 26, 2024 and certification “twenty-one days after a general election” (Thursday, December 05, 2024). Ballots that arrive late may not be reviewed and counted for several days after Election Day. The process for Washington is outlined here. “Ballots continue to be processed, signatures verified, and…