Overview
- Voters have posted videos and messages claiming touchscreen selections registered the wrong candidate in multiple states as early voting began, drawing wide attention on social media.
- Local election officials in counties that use ExpressVote ballot-marking devices investigated reports and found no evidence of coordinated tampering, saying many incidents stemmed from unintended touches or miscalibrated screens.
- Election Systems & Software said it has not been notified of any widespread problem and advised voters to ask poll workers for help and to follow local procedures if a printed ballot does not match their selections.
- Ballot-marking devices in the affected counties print a paper record for voters to review, and officials point to pre-election testing, routine recalibration on older touchscreens, and postelection manual audits as checks on accuracy.
- Officials warn that similar anecdotal complaints surface every high-turnout election and that social media amplification and falling public trust in election outcomes can make routine errors look systemic.