Fact Check: Viral Social Media Post Claims Helene-Related NC Election Changes Are Frauds | WFAE 90.7

It's time for a fact check of North Carolina politics. Election Day is less than two weeks away, but people are already voting in North Carolina. After the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, the state relaxed some rules in western North Carolina to make it easier for those affected by the storm to vote. But a social media post that has been viewed more than 3.5 million times claims the changes are an attempt by the state to influence the election results. Joining me now for a closer look is WRAL's Paul Specht.

Marshall Terry: First, what changes has the state made to voting rules in Western North Carolina? And why?

Paul Specht: They tried to improve access to ballots. And to accomplish that, they allowed county boards of elections — through bipartisan votes — to change their early voting websites if necessary. As you can imagine, many early voting sites are experiencing problems – whether they have been flooded or physically damaged, and may need to be relocated. They also allowed county executives — again through a vote — to move polling stations on Election Day. Not just early voting sites, but also election day voting sites. They also gave people in the western part of the state more time to request an absentee ballot. They also allowed mail-in ballots to be returned in more locations. Finally, they have expanded the qualifications of poll workers to ensure that these polling places have enough staff.

Terry: In this post from MJTruthUltra on And the post lists the changes the state has made. Who is MJTruthUltra? And what do they argue, that the changes are aimed at cheating the election?

Woodpecker: Well, we don't know exactly who he is. He doesn't give his real name there on X. If you look at his profile, it leans to the right. He has around 300,000 followers.

In reality, these changes were voted on by a nonpartisan election committee here in North Carolina, the State Board. Now the Democrats have a 3:2 majority, but the Republicans also voted for it.

Terry: And we should point out that this is not the only post on X that is like this. But you focused on this one because it was watched so many times. Some version of this is really widespread, isn't it? I mean, some people have even claimed that the government caused the hurricane and controlled the weather.

Woodpecker: Right. And we have reviewed many of them. And we found that they are obviously, frankly, ridiculous on their face.

This one is kind of ridiculous too, and here's why. We've investigated other claims about people withholding help in Western North Carolina. That's not true.

One reason people thought this is that former President Donald Trump won not only North Carolina but also Western North Carolina by a wide margin in the 2020 election. The idea that these changes amount to theft is kind of ridiculous because they're trying to make voting and ballot access easier in predominantly Republican areas.

Terry: How did you evaluate this claim?

Woodpecker: We rated these pants as “Pants on Fire.” We admit this to claims that are not only false but also ridiculous. First, there is no evidence of fraud by election board members or poll workers. Second, these changes will primarily help Republicans in this region.

And finally, we spoke to a Republican board member on the State Board of Elections and asked him: What do you think of the changes? Is there reason to be skeptical?

I'll give you his quote. He said: “There have been no changes made to the voting requirements, the voter registration process, the voting process or the voter ID requirements.” And he said these rumors “seem like an attempt to sensationalize something that is not controversial.” So I think so , that his comments on this topic speak for themselves.

Terry: All right, Paul. Thank you very much.