Thread by @jacknicas

Let's fact check the latest big voter-fraud claim: Software glitches misreported votes in Michigan.

Facts: One county caught and fixed an error in its unofficial tallies. This came even before a 2nd layer of thorough checks designed to catch such issues.
freep.com/story/news/pol…

So: Yes, there was an error in the unofficial vote tally for one Michigan county.

And then county workers checked the numbers, discovered the error and fixed it. This was all before the official vote-count verification, which is more thorough & is designed to catch such issues.

We know this because of reporting by @paulegan4 at the Detroit Free Press.

State officials said the error occurred because Antrim County didn't update its election-management software.

The vote count was accurate. The problem came when the unofficial tally went to the state.

Some other counties use the same software. The @freep reported that it was unclear if the state tracked whether other counties had updated their software.

(I would imagine/hope that there is now new scrutiny of unofficial tallies from counties that use this software.)

But remember: All of these counts are unofficial.

There is then an elaborate process in which two Republican and two Democratic "canvassers" certify the counts in each county, checking poll books, ballot summaries & tabulator tapes.

More from the @freep: freep.com/story/news/pol…

And then: There are additional layers! There are official processes for complaints, legal maneuvering, automatic recounts, etc.
detroitnews.com/story/news/pol…

To summarize: In Antrim County, a software error did swing 5,500 votes for Biden in an unofficial count.

But the system of checks worked. County officials caught the error and fixed it. And that was before an additional layer of checks designed specifically to catch such issues.

The State of Michigan should be further scrutinizing any vote counts from counties that used that software, made by Dominion Voting Systems.

But does this sound like election fraud to you?

Here's how it's being framed by the president's children and other right-wing voices.

Hyperpartisan tweets from right-wing internet personalities about this have been shared hundreds of thousands of times, reaching millions of people.

When the Detroit Free Press tweeted the article that informed much of this thread, it was shared 10 times. freep.com/story/news/pol…

This illustrates massive issues in how the public now gets its information. The sensational and divisive goes viral. The nuanced and informed does not.

This is largely wrought by the social media companies' algorithms, which reward our most base instincts.

This is playing out with just about every claim of voter fraud right now.

I lay this out here, with other examples, such as the claim that dead people are voting in Michigan. (Evidence indicates what people are pointing to are actually clerical errors.)

https://twitter.com/jacknicas/status/1324806270579318785?s=20

I've reached out to the Michigan secretary of state for more information.

Thank you to the Detroit Free Press @freep and its government-watchdog reporter Paul Egan @paulegan4 for their reporting on it.

If you're worried about misinformation, subscribe to your local news outlet.