US elections 2024: Voter fraud claims dominate social media ahead of polling

Day before United States elects its new president, American voters have been reportedly hit by series of allegations.According to a BBC report, allegations of voter fraud and election rigging are dominating discourse. In 2020, such claims emerged after voting day that culminated into the riot by pro-Donald Trump supporters at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
According to the report, the allegations are making it tough for the election officials who while being pre-occupied administrative tasks ahead of the voting are forced to debunk rumours.
The US administration has accused “foreign actors”, particularly Russia, of spreading “disinformation to sow doubts about election integrity”. Moscow has denied such accusations as “baseless.”The Republican supporters, who believe that Trump had actually won the elections in 2020 and might be “cheated again” on November 5, are allegedly making the claims.
According to the latest CNN/SSRS poll, 70% of Americans expect the former president to reject election results if he loses the vote.
“Pennsylvania is cheating, and getting caught, at large scale levels rarely seen before. REPORT CHEATING TO AUTHORITIES. Law Enforcement must act, NOW,” wrote Trump on his Truth Social platform.
According to the report, doubts on election integrity have reached Trump supporters on the ground, who believe that only “illegal” activity by the Democrats could prevent the former president from winning. They also believe that the allegations are part of a coordinated plan by the Democrats to “rig” the election.
Mass claims of voting fraud on social media have been aided by groups that crowd-source allegations.
Voters have been posting election fraud claims on the VoteAlert app, developed by a Texas-based group called True The Vote. The BBC report claimed such the group has been at the forefront of questioning election integrity.
Another source of such claims is from a community on X started by Elon Musk’s America Political Action Committee (PAC). The community is reportedly filled with allegations from its 50,000 strong members.
Officials in the US government say one-off and isolated incidents of regular administrative mishaps “are blown out of proportion” on social media in an organised manner to allege widespread cheating.
A memo by the Department of Homeland Security said that organised election conspiracy theories could spark action by domestic extremists.
A top Republican election official in Pennsylvania, where Trump alleged voting fraud urged voters to be aware of “half-truths” and “disinformation circulating on social media”.
“This is a sign that the built-in safeguards in our voter registration process are working,” he said on reports of voting irregularities.