Counteracting False Narratives Regarding Claims of Ineligible Voters in Elections
Claims of ineligible individuals participating in elections have become one of the most persistent forms of disinformation circulating during election seasons. These claims are not only damaging to the democratic process but also contribute to mistrust in the electoral system. However, closer examination reveals that these allegations are often based on misunderstandings, errors, or deliberate misinformation campaigns.
Malicious actors often propagate narratives that suggest deceased persons are included in voter rolls or that individuals will fraudulently use the identities of the deceased to cast votes. While it's true that errors in voter registration can sometimes lead to deceased individuals appearing on voter roll lists, electoral authorities typically have mechanisms in place to rectify such mistakes. Moreover, people may pass away between the time voter rolls are generated and the election day, which is not fraud. That’s just unfortunate.
For instance, during the 2022 general elections in Costa Rica, disinformation connected the use of expired identity cards to alleged widespread voter fraud, with claims that hundreds to thousands of deceased people were voting in the election. In reality, the electoral roll was continuously and diligently updated, removing names of those who had passed away. Similarly, during Peru's 2021 elections, voters were shown a video that showed an electoral act supposedly signed by a deceased person. It was later found to be a typing error—the last digits of the identity card provided by the voter were written incorrectly.
Malicious actors also push these false narratives in order to exploit social prejudices and disproportionately target marginalized communities. This pattern is particularly concerning during elections when tensions run high, such as the last four elections in the United States.
During the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, false claims about undocumented or recently arrived immigrants voting illegally circulated, particularly through Republican circles. Non-citizens, including immigrants, are not eligible and have never been eligible to vote in the United States. To be eligible, one must be a citizen, at least 18 years old, and have undergone a naturalization process that can take years. No ballots or information about voting can even be sent to undocumented people, as they are, well, undocumented, and therefore invisible to the voter registration system in the United States. This misinformation undermines the integrity of the election process and targets already vulnerable communities.
Misinformation surrounding foreign nationals voting also contributes to the confusion. In Colombia, foreign nationals can vote in Colombia only if they possess a valid visa, foreign ID card, and have resided in the country for over five years. Their voting rights are limited to municipal or district elections; foreign nationals cannot vote in country-wide elections, such as the presidential election. But that did not stop false information from circulating that claimed Venezuelans were voting en masse in Colombia’s 2022 presidential election. This has happened throughout South America, including in Chile’s 2021 general election.
Media outlets and individuals must exercise caution and responsibility when discussing these issues, as heightened tensions around elections can impact the personal safety of journalists. Aside from accurate information being paramount to prevent discriminatory discourse and undue panic among voters, accurate information is also necessary to fight disinformation, and the volume with which accurate information is reported must outstep that at which disinformation spreads. While occasional errors may occur in the electoral process, they should not be taken at face value and used as evidence of widespread voter fraud–simply as normal human errors.
When covering incidents of alleged ineligible voting, it is important to ask the following:
Are there any mechanisms in place to address flaws in the electoral system?
Are these incidents isolated occurrences or part of an organized attempt to interfere with the election process?
If those questions do lead to answers that point toward a corrupt election, that is important to address as well, but all too often, the answer is that bad actors are trying to corrupt the public’s trust in the democratic process. By addressing these falsehoods with evidence-based information, we can contribute to a more informed and trust-worthy electoral environment.
