Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Glitch in a voting machine in Kentucky, which does not allow voters to cast a ballot for former US President Donald Trump, but instead selects the option for vice president Kamala Harris.
Fact
Incident found to be user error, not voting fraud, according to officials.
A 16-second video, purportedly showing an individual attempting to vote for US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, has gone viral with the claim that some voting machines in Kentucky are not allowing voters to cast their vote for Trump. “Instead, when they tap ‘Trump’, Kamala Harris [Democratic presidential nominee] ends up being selected. Add it to the list of reasons to switch to paper ballots. Why does this always seem to happen in one direction and not the other?” read an X post, while another post said that the video of the ballot machine is from Laurel County, Kentucky.
The archived versions of the posts, which have amassed around 9 million views, can be seen here and here. We have also received this video on our Whatsapp tipline (9999499044), too, requesting us to fact-check it.
Early Voting Sees Record Turnout
Although the US Presidential Election Day is scheduled for November 5, early voting options were made available, which varies by state. In Kentucky, one could vote in person on Thursday (Oct 31), Friday (November 1) and Saturday (November 2). According to the Washington Post, Americans are not waiting for Election Day to vote with more than 74 million people having already cast their ballots as of Saturday, which is nearly 47 percent of the total votes that were cast in the 2020 presidential election.
Fact Check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Voting fraud Laurel County Kentucky”, which led us to this ABC News report, dated November 2, 2024, headlined, “Kentucky election officials push back on viral ‘vote-switching’ video”. According to the report, officials said that the video shows a “voter error” that is easily preventable and did not impact the voter’s final ballot.
“In the viral video, a voter in Laurel County, Kentucky, appears to be attempting to tap on Donald Trump’s name on a touchscreen voting machine, which selected the option for Kamala Harris. The video cuts off abruptly and does not show the voter’s final ballot. A spokesperson for the Kentucky secretary of state said that the video shows ‘voter error’,” read the report.
“Our Office has received no complaints about ‘vote switching’ or other long-ago debunked rumours. We contacted the county clerk, who confirmed voter error and that the ballot-marking device works correctly,” the spokesperson reportedly said, while according to Laurel County Clerk Tony Brown, the voter who posted the original video was able to cast their ballot as intended. The video shows a ballot-marking device that produces a paper ballot after a voter selects their choices, said Brown.
“Both the Laurel County Clerk and Election Systems & Software — the company that produces the ExpressVote ballot marking device — suggested the video inaccurately depicts how the machine normally functions,” further stated the report, adding that the Laurel County Clerk’s Office shared a video of a user tapping through the candidate options without issue, to demonstrate that the machine works well.
Similar reports can be seen here and here, reiterating, “A Kentucky voting machine that registered a vote for Vice President Kamala Harris when the voter meant to select former President Donald Trump has been found to be user error, not fraud, according to officials in Laurel County, where the issue occurred.”
We then came across the video shared by Laurel County Clerk Tony Brown on Facebook, dated November 1, 2024, demonstrating that the machine works well. “The Attorney General’s office has been to the vote centre to check the device that has been shown across social media today. In full disclosure, after several minutes of attempting to recreate the scenario, it did occur. This was accomplished by hitting some area in between the boxes. After that we tried for several minutes to do it again and could not,” read the post, clarifying that voters are supposed to press the middle of the box to make their selection.
Newschecker also found that Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee, had responded to the viral video on X, assuring voters that the GOP had also investigated the resident’s claims, while noting that election officials were unable to find any errors when testing the machine and that voters could cast their ballots properly.
Conclusion
Viral video purportedly showing a US citizen’s vote for Donald Trump being switched to Kamala Harris is being shared in false context. Viral video shows user error, say officials.
Result: Missing Context
Source
ABC News report, November 2, 2024
Facebook video, Laurel County Clerk Tony Brown, November 1, 2024
X post, Lara Trump, November 1, 2024
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
