Conservative publication fact checks election fraud stories
“All of these claims, with the exception of the absentee Georgia ballots (which seemed like honest confusion and could actually have hurt Joe Biden if true, given his general advantage in mailed-in ballots), were shared to bolster the claim that the election was stolen from Donald Trump. And all of them, with the exception of the claim that Pennsylvania reported a batch of ballots all for Biden, were false. (Even that one was missing some context.)” - The Dispatch
The amount of wishful thinking going on with this defies description.
But I’m not sure I’m going to keep pointing people to facts. All these tales are working their way through the courts and a few will turn out to partly true (a few have already)… but it’s not going to add up to a stolen election. This is pure fantasy.
When the courts are done, there will only be the facts-irrelevant conspiracy theories left. Meanwhile, for those who aren’t afraid to face facts…
To understand the sheer variety of rumors and prevarications, look at these headlines from the Dispatch Fact Check team:
Do Viral Videos Show Poll Workers Filling Out Empty Ballots?
Did Michigan’s Election Website Show Donald Trump Winning the Election?
Does a Video Show Someone Burning Ballots With a Vote for Trump?
Did Philadelphia Really Report ‘23,277 votes…all for Biden’ in One Update?
Have 40,000 Absentee Ballots Been Rejected in One Georgia County?
Did Wisconsin Turnout Exceed the Number of Registered Voters?
Did Arizona Poll Workers Give Out Sharpies to Prevent Votes From Being Registered?
It simply won’t stop. Even as the specific claims of vote fraud and voting irregularities are being debunked, the conspiracy theorists (and Trump himself) embrace more esoteric, difficult-to-understand claims about computer algorithms and an alleged supercomputer called “Hammer” that deployed a software package called “Scorecard” to change American votes. In fact, we’ve published separate fact checks about each theory of tech interference:
From https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/the-post-election-contest-a-conde…
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
I agree Aaron. It baffles my mind. What is even crazier, is that the more that is thrown out there the more that these things are debunked. Even the legal win that Trump had in PA, affected somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 or so votes. There was no fraud, but a complaint about the practice. Those ballots had already been set aside and weren’t even in the count. So it has absolutely no impact to the vote. I saw today, the tweet from the campaign about dead people voting in Georgia. The 4 names have already been debunked at the local polling center, as misinformation (i.e. that person never voted, one name was used by the widow, but she put Mrs in front of the name, so even then it was still one vote for a registered voter, another one wasn’t even spelled right by the campaign…). Some of the rulings today from the courts are even getting crazier, in terms of the evidence being presented. There is just nothing there at all. With the scrutiny and the lawsuits being thrown out there, in my opinion, this is turning out to be one of the most accurate and fraud free elections on record. But just like your article stated above, I guarantee you there will be 30% or more of the population years from now who will say the election was fraudulent and stolen.
My gut says that we will not see Trump ever concede the election (he hates losers and doesn’t want to be called that, so he will try to control the narrative), the votes will start getting certified with no changes. Trump will start disappearing from public and will just slink out. It is funny for me that he is fighting so hard to keep a job, one in which he has all but abandoned.
I’m tempted to say that history will expose Trump for the completely self-absorbed person I’m convinced he is. But, ironically, history doesn’t support that…. That is, what we learn from history is that many people will keep believing what they want to, no matter what. And even when the vast majority are agreed about the character of a historical leader, time comes eventually when it becomes fashionable to revise that history.
In the short run, the real parts of the “election fraud” saga will all settle down by the end of the year. The fantasy parts will continue but won’t make much difference.
I do wonder when the official at GSA is going to write the ascertainment… how long it’s going to take her to accept reality. Maybe she already has, but it comes down to simply “Do I want to get fired six weeks before Christmas when I could just wait until what Trump thinks of my job performance is irrelevant?”
I have to confess to some schadenfreude… but only some. Trump is proving himself to be everything I’ve been saying he is. But then, he’s really already done that abundantly, and probably only a small few who haven’t seen it by now are going to recognize it in his pathetic and semi-delusional post-election behavior. … so, no, it’s not a “sweet vindication” moment.
And even I feel sad and embarrassed for him at times. Less schadenfreude and more fremdschämen.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
[Aaron Blumer]The following video explains the so-called “esoteric, difficult-to-understand claims about computer algorithms” and strongly suggests that something is very amiss in this data. If you have a strong math and science background, the explanation is not all that hard to understand.The amount of wishful thinking going on with this defies description.
But I’m not sure I’m going to keep pointing people to facts. All these tales are working their way through the courts and a few will turn out to partly true (a few have already)… but it’s not going to add up to a stolen election. This is pure fantasy.
When the courts are done, there will only be the facts-irrelevant conspiracy theories left. Meanwhile, for those who aren’t afraid to face facts…
To understand the sheer variety of rumors and prevarications, look at these headlines from the Dispatch Fact Check team:
Do Viral Videos Show Poll Workers Filling Out Empty Ballots?
Did Michigan’s Election Website Show Donald Trump Winning the Election?
Does a Video Show Someone Burning Ballots With a Vote for Trump?
Did Philadelphia Really Report ‘23,277 votes…all for Biden’ in One Update?
Have 40,000 Absentee Ballots Been Rejected in One Georgia County?
Did Wisconsin Turnout Exceed the Number of Registered Voters?
Did Arizona Poll Workers Give Out Sharpies to Prevent Votes From Being Registered?
It simply won’t stop. Even as the specific claims of vote fraud and voting irregularities are being debunked, the conspiracy theorists (and Trump himself) embrace more esoteric, difficult-to-understand claims about computer algorithms and an alleged supercomputer called “Hammer” that deployed a software package called “Scorecard” to change American votes. In fact, we’ve published separate fact checks about each theory of tech interference:
From https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/the-post-election-contest-a-condensed
In short, what the data shows is that as precincts in the largest counties in Michigan became more and more Republican, Trump did worse and worse in a linear fashion—which is highly suspect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztu5Y5obWPk&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel…
If you want to cut through all the explanation, go to around the 25 minute-mark in this video and watch it for the next 10 minutes or so. That should be enough for you to see that the data is highly problematic in these largest counties in Michigan.
One disclaimer: the video does not provide the raw numbers of the votes, etc. to check whether their graphs, etc do reflect the actual data.
[RajeshG]Another disclaimer to my calling attention to the argument made in this video: I have only had time to watch the first 40 minutes of the video. Perhaps, they do provide the raw data later in the video.The following video explains the so-called “esoteric, difficult-to-understand claims about computer algorithms” and strongly suggests that something is very amiss in this data. If you have a strong math and science background, the explanation is not all that hard to understand.
In short, what the data shows is that as precincts in the largest counties in Michigan became more and more Republican, Trump did worse and worse in a linear fashion—which is highly suspect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztu5Y5obWPk&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=…
If you want to cut through all the explanation, go to around the 25 minute-mark in this video and watch it for the next 10 minutes or so. That should be enough for you to see that the data is highly problematic in these largest counties in Michigan.
One disclaimer: the video does not provide the raw numbers of the votes, etc. to check whether their graphs, etc do reflect the actual data.
Trumps wall is falling.
Trump’s own Department of Homeland Security, in conjunction with a number of other agencies has released their report on the election, as being the most secure in history, with no evidence of miscounts or compromise across the country.
https://fcw.com/articles/2020/11/12/cisa-bold-type-most-secure-election…
FoxNews has started to dial back and has started to push back on the election fraud. One of the most respected republican strategist, Karl Rove, has pushed back. The wall is quickly crumbling. Trump appears to have abandoned Fox News for the more extreme right Newsmax. None of the lawsuits are really making any progress, and still no one is finding any fraud. I give it about one more week, and there won’t be much of anything there. With that said, there will be whole swaths of this country that still will believe the election was fradulent. Absolutely no amount of convincing will change their mind.
Trump’s true character (that has been defended by the evangelical world) is truly coming out now. An upset child who is hiding in their room. His true leadership style and character is now on display in front of all the country.
[Aaron Blumer]I do wonder when the official at GSA is going to write the ascertainment… how long it’s going to take her to accept reality. Maybe she already has, but it comes down to simply “Do I want to get fired six weeks before Christmas when I could just wait until what Trump thinks of my job performance is irrelevant?”
Given the precedent set in 2000, when the GSA didn’t work with Bush until the SC case was decided, this is not at all “unprecedented.” Once all the court cases have worked through and the vote totals are certified, then the GSA should go ahead.
Of course, some say there’s a big difference with only ~500 votes in question in the Bush vs. Gore case. Nonetheless, I believe it’s the principle not the vote numbers that matter. That’s also the reason the decision to stop the ~500 ballots in PA was significant (I’m going by what was said above; I haven’t seen how many votes are in question in that decision). It’s not because that will be such a great help to Trump. It’s because things need to be done correctly, and if it’s the legislature’s job to make a decision, and another official usurps that, it should be ruled improper/illegal. The main benefit is for the future. Those ~500 votes could have been quite decisive if done in Florida during Bush vs. Gore, and given the division in our country, we could have vote totals that close again.
In the same vein, a hand recount or two in the battleground states, even if nothing changes, would go a long way to assure people that the Dominion voting systems are not the problem. Of course, there will always be hard-core conspiracy theorists who are not satisfied, but they never will be. The main benefit will be to the vast majority of the over 70 million that voted for Trump who are not conspiracy nuts. Again, if all these demands for verification makes people unhappy, then they should support changing the process so less is necessary.
Being a stickler for official results and the court process is not a sufficient condition to satisfy everyone, as I said before. It is, though, a necessary one, and it will likely be sufficient for most. From what I remember, there was still a very large amount of discontent, protest, and sour grapes for quite a while after the Bush vs. Gore decision came down. And, IIRC, the democrats have still not conceded the 2018 Georgia governor’s race. That doesn’t mean leaders we support shouldn’t be better. They absolutely should. However, it is interesting to me that decrying human nature is almost always acceptable when applied in a one-sided fashion. That’s what makes Biden’s calls for unity and civility (neither of which he believed in or practiced when he wasn’t the president) such a crock. The hypocrisy there is at least as blatant as Trump’s self-absorption is.
Dave Barnhart
[RajeshG]The following video explains the so-called “esoteric, difficult-to-understand claims about computer algorithms” and strongly suggests that something is very amiss in this data. If you have a strong math and science background, the explanation is not all that hard to understand.
In short, what the data shows is that as precincts in the largest counties in Michigan became more and more Republican, Trump did worse and worse in a linear fashion—which is highly suspect.
Why does this sound like a movie I recently watched? Oh, because it is: Man of the Year.
[T Howard]Have you made a serious attempt to understand the highly anomalous nature of the voting data from this election that is addressed in the video? If so, do you have some useful explanation to offer?Why does this sound like a movie I recently watched? Oh, because it is: Man of the Year.
[RajeshG]Have you made a serious attempt to understand the highly anomalous nature of the voting data from this election that is addressed in the video? If so, do you have some useful explanation to offer?
It is all bogus. There are a few lawsuits left. Most were thrown out at the time of filing, or they were thrown out at the first hearing for a lack of evidence. The two that were won were 1) poll watchers could stand closer, and 2) PA where a date was extended by 3 days, was ruled illegal. It impacted 580 votes, and those 580 weren’t even in the count. The Trump campaign as since withdrawn 3 lawsuits. There are a handful left and they won’t matter. What is interesting is that none of these lawsuits were thrown out for procedural issues or legal maneuvering, but for a total lack of evidence of any kind around inconsistencies, fraud. The trump administration just released a note from the Department of Homeland Security, Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committees, Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council, Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committee and the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency, that there has been no evidence of any voting system being compromised.
This is done in my opinion. I am all for investigating fraud, but history will show there was none. Now Trump is a loser a second time in two weeks. It won’t matter because Rajesh and others will continue to hold onto the fringe theories and will never let go. I would encourage those who still hold to fraud and mass problems with the vote to study up on Occam’s Razor. My guess is that you will deny this as that is what most conspiracy theorist do anyway.
[RajeshG]The following video explains the so-called “esoteric, difficult-to-understand claims about computer algorithms” and strongly suggests that something is very amiss in this data. If you have a strong math and science background, the explanation is not all that hard to understand.
Not really Rajesh. This guy is debunked all over the place, including his claim that he invented email. Most of us with a pretty strong data science background see the same mistake this guy makes with data all the time in our jobs. It is a pretty basic mistake, but I guess if you invented email and you tout your PhD from MIT you can get people to believe you.
https://kabir-naim.medium.com/dr-shiva-ayyadurai-the-danger-of-data-cha…
[dgszweda]Time will tell what will come of all the things that are taking place.It is all bogus. There are a few lawsuits left. Most were thrown out at the time of filing, or they were thrown out at the first hearing for a lack of evidence. The two that were won were 1) poll watchers could stand closer, and 2) PA where a date was extended by 3 days, was ruled illegal. It impacted 580 votes, and those 580 weren’t even in the count. The Trump campaign as since withdrawn 3 lawsuits. There are a handful left and they won’t matter. What is interesting is that none of these lawsuits were thrown out for procedural issues or legal maneuvering, but for a total lack of evidence of any kind around inconsistencies, fraud. The trump administration just released a note from the Department of Homeland Security, Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committees, Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council, Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committee and the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency, that there has been no evidence of any voting system being compromised.
This is done in my opinion. I am all for investigating fraud, but history will show there was none. Now Trump is a loser a second time in two weeks. It won’t matter because Rajesh and others will continue to hold onto the fringe theories and will never let go. I would encourage those who still hold to fraud and mass problems with the vote to study up on Occam’s Razor. My guess is that you will deny this as that is what most conspiracy theorist do anyway.
[dgszweda]I appreciate your providing something that directly responds to the original video. I skimmed it and plan to scrutinize closely both it and what that video asserts, as time allows.Not really Rajesh. This guy is debunked all over the place, including his claim that he invented email. Most of us with a pretty strong data science background see the same mistake this guy makes with data all the time in our jobs. It is a pretty basic mistake, but I guess if you invented email and you tout your PhD from MIT you can get people to believe you.
https://kabir-naim.medium.com/dr-shiva-ayyadurai-the-danger-of-data-char…
Some may think that there are no significant issues left to decide in this election. The following source asserts that there still are important constitutional issues in what was done in PA that will likely be decided by SCOTUS:
https://thefederalist.com/2020/11/12/pennsylvania-mail-in-ballot-snafu-…
[RajeshG]Some may think that there are no significant issues left to decide in this election. The following source asserts that there still are important constitutional issues in what was done in PA that will likely be decided by SCOTUS:
https://thefederalist.com/2020/11/12/pennsylvania-mail-in-ballot-snafu-i…
I don’t think anyone’s saying there are no significant issues. They’re saying either a) there’s no voter fraud or b) there might end up being some fraud but it’s not anywhere near outcome-altering. I’m in the b. group.
Best I can tell, the PA case isn’t even potentially outcome altering…. it’s not really even a fraud case.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
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