Combatting misinformation: Local officials urge voters to verify election information

FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas - How many political posts have you seen online today and how much of it is actually true? When it comes to voting, local election officials want to make sure you are receiving correct information.

A record number of voters are showing up because they want their voices heard. Unfortunately, some who are the loudest this election season are on social media and have people playing a game of what's real and what's rumor.

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"Yeah, well we call it the season of disinformation, because you do see a lot of both inadvertent misinformation and also some intentional misinformation," explains Fort Bend County Election Administrator John Oldham. "One of the things we're concerned about at all levels of government isn't necessarily physical terrorism but cyberterrorism, or social facilitation, people putting out false rumors about you can't vote or polling places are closed. Those types of things that basically would be disruptive to the voting process."  

Just how disruptive can false information be?

"It can be disruptive, and if it only influences one person, it's bad because that's one person who didn't get to exercise their right to vote," Oldham added "We get people calling who'll get upset because maybe, for example, a machine has a jam, and they use an auxiliary bin, and they're worried their ballot won't count, and that's not true. Everybody who casts a ballot, it will count. Every voting system is required to have an auxiliary or emergency bin for that reason, and it's an official ballot box."

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Another rumor Oldham wants to dispel, "If you get a ballot handed to you that has any writing on the backside, you should refuse it. Well, that's simply not true. All ballots in Texas are supposed to have a number on it, and also, during early voting, it's supposed to have the clerk's signature. It's a facsimile, a rubber stamp but, in our case, my signature is on it. In Harris County, the Harris County Clerk's signature is there. On election day, it's the presiding judge of the polling place," Oldham explains.

If someone is trying to disrupt the election process by putting out bad information, what's Oldham's message to them?

"You might get caught. Depending on the circumstances, you might be in violation of federal or state laws and could be prosecuted, and you're doing a disservice to your community."

Oldham says before believing or sharing false information, check the state (votetexas.gov) or county elections website to see if it's true.