Election Fact Check: Bogus claims of fraud and calls to 'stop the count'
As the vote counting continues, our National Investigative Unit is tracking bogus claims of fraud and calls to "stop the count" — which would be illegal.
President Trump supporting protesters are descending on vote certification centers chanting "stop the count" — which would be against state election law.
And Thursday morning, Trump tweeted, "Any vote that came in after Election Day will not be counted."
Twitter labeled it as misleading.
It's up to local election officials, state laws, and any court rulings — not a candidate — which legal votes are counted and when.
More false and misleading election posts on social media are going viral.
In Arizona, a conspiracy theory dubbed "Sharpiegate" alleges election workers gave only Trump voters sharpie pens to fill out their ballot because the ink would invalidate the results.
That's false. County supervisors say, flat-out "…sharpies do not invalidate ballots…."
In fact, the election integrity partnership notes in many states, sharpies can be used without issue, declaring, "There is no evidence of a plot to disenfranchise voters by passing out sharpies."
Even the Trump administration and Trump's own appointees agree.
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs warns, "Don't promote disinfo! Stop spreading #sharpiegate claims."
Earlier, Krebs warned about just this sort of disinformation coming right after Election Day.
"The last line of defense and election security is you, the American voter," Krebs says. "So be prepared for efforts that call into question the legitimacy of the election."
That agency debunks even more viral election claims on its new "Rumor control" .
As do our partners at .