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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Elections & voting fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about elections & voting. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

5,415 published reviews in this topic

Deutsche Presse-AgenturElections & voting

Ein Politikwissenschaftler soll im Mitteldeutschen Rundfunk (MDR) vorgeschlagen haben, «über die Abschaffung der geheimen Wahl» nachzudenken - diese Behauptung kursiert mit einem Interviewausschnitt (hier archiviert) als vermeintlichem Beleg in den sozialen Netzwerken und auf Blogs.

Publisher’s rating: Die Äußerung ist aus dem Kontext gerissen worden. Im Interview ging es nicht pauschal um Wahlen, sondern um Abstimmungen in Parlamenten. Anlass war die Wahl eines AfD-Politikers zum Vorsitzenden des Stadtrats im thüringischen Gera, die viel Kritik hervorgerufen hatte.

The viral clip was presented as evidence that a political scientist had urged abolishing secret elections generally. The interview was with Benjamin Höhne, a Berlin political scientist, on MDR’s “MDR aktuell” on 25 September. The relevant setting was a dispute after Gera’s city council elected an AfD politician as its chair in a secret ballot; politicians, including from the CDU and SPD, argued over who might have helped secure the majority. The review says the clip’s statement concerned parliamentary votes, not elections in general. [S1: “Auch der MDR thematisierte die Wahl, so etwa in der Sendung «MDR aktuell» am 25. September. Darin kam in einem Interview auch der Berliner Politikwissenschaftler Benjamin Höhne als Experte zu Wort”; “Ende September hat der Geraer Stadtrat einen AfD-Politiker zu seinem Vorsitzenden gewählt. Im Anschluss stritten Politiker unter anderem von CDU und SPD darüber, wer dem Kandidaten eine Mehrheit beschafft haben könnte - das Ergebnis war in geheimer Wahl zustande gekommen.”] Höhne’s quoted proposal was to start a debate about whether secret voting remained appropriate “angesichts der doch turbulenten politischen Situation.” In his account to dpa, he said it referred only to voting in a municipal parliament and that he wanted a debate, not to demand that secret voting be abolished. He argued that voters should be able to know how their representatives vote. The review describes the short clip as omitting that immediate context, making a limited discussion of parliamentary ballots appear to be a general proposal about elections. [S1: “Ein elfsekündiger Videoausschnitt mit diesem Zitat wird seitdem auf Facebook verbreitet.”; “Im Gespräch mit der Deutschen Presse-Agentur (dpa) sagte Höhne: «Die Aussage fiel im Kontext der Abstimmung im Kommunalparlament in Gera. Sie bezieht sich nur auf Wahlen im Parlament. Ich habe nichts gefordert, sondern wollte eine Debatte zu dem Thema anstoßen. Ich finde, Wähler haben ein Anrecht darauf zu wissen, wie sich ihre Abgeordneten bei Abstimmungen verhalten.»”] The review reports that dpa examined a complete recording and that it supported Höhne’s account. It also points to a roughly 40-second version circulating on Facebook, which showed more of the exchange: Höhne’s argument about voters knowing how parties act in votes, followed immediately by the sentence shared without context. The MDR and ARD-Mediathek no longer made the full interview available, according to the review. [S1: “Ein vollständiger Mitschnitt, den die dpa einsehen konnte, bestätigt jedoch Höhnes Schilderung.”; “Auch eines der auf Facebook verbreiteten Videos (hier archiviert) zeigt mit rund 40 Sekunden Länge etwas mehr Kontext als der kurze Clip.”; “Direkt im Anschluss fällt das Zitat, das nun vielfach ohne Kontext verbreitet wird. Es bezieht sich also klar auf Abstimmungen in Parlamenten.”; “Auf den Seiten des MDR und in der ARD-Mediathek ist das gesamte Interview nicht mehr abrufbar.”]

FACTLYElections & voting

Photo of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wearing Indira’s saree as Bihar Assembly elections – 2020 are coming up

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim says a photo shows Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wearing a saree that belonged to Indira Gandhi, and links the image to the upcoming 2020 Bihar Assembly elections. FACTLY’s review identifies the image as an older photograph from Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, rather than an image connected to those Bihar elections. The review describes searching the image with Google Reverse Image and says that search returned only recent posts repeating the claim. It then searched keywords from the claim and found the same photo in posts from October 2018. The review also located the image on Pressbrief.in’s Flickr page, whose description dated the photograph to 12 April 2009, when Priyanka Gandhi visited a Durga temple during her brother Rahul Gandhi’s election campaign in Amethi. The review notes that similar photographs appeared on Getty Images and Outlook. That provenance establishes that the photo predates the Bihar election claim and depicts a temple visit in Amethi, not an event associated with the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections. The review says it could not find information verifying the separate assertion that the saree was Indira Gandhi’s; the photo’s age and location do not establish who owned the garment.

USA TODAYElections & voting

Ventura County election officials reducing voting locations to limit in-person voter turnout

Publisher’s rating: Partly false

The review examined a Facebook post claiming that Ventura County was replacing 379 precincts with 47 voting stations and that the change was intended to suppress in-person turnout. It found a real reduction in voting locations, but explained that precincts are electoral districts, not necessarily polling places: “It was not uncommon for several precincts in the past to vote at the same location.” The post’s figures therefore did not establish that 379 polling places had been closed. Ventura County reduced its voting locations from 389 to 48. The review reported that the county expanded in-person voting from one day to four, with the larger locations open Oct. 31 through Nov. 3; voters could use any of the locations rather than only one assigned to their precinct. It also reported that the county provided 34 ballot drop boxes. These details show that fewer sites did not mean fewer days or the elimination of in-person voting. The review described practical reasons for the change: officials anticipated difficulty finding enough locations and poll workers during the pandemic, including because many past volunteers were older and at elevated risk of severe illness. It also noted that the new state law permitted counties to consolidate locations but did not require them to do so. The review concluded that the evidence of expanded voting days and ballot-drop options undercut the allegation that the governor was trying to reduce turnout or limit in-person voting. It further reported that registered voters were sent postcards outlining the changes, contradicting the post’s assertion that no one knew about them.