False claims about machines “swapping” votes are going viral. Here's what you should know.

As early voting As polls opened in Texas on Oct. 21, viral claims spread online that voting machines in Tarrant County — home to Fort Worth and one of the state's most populous counties — were “switching” votes.

But election officials refuted the claims, attributing the problem to human error that was corrected and confirming there was no evidence that machines changed votes. Similar false claims about voting machines have emerged in Tennessee and Georgia, with election officials in each state attributing errors to voters rather than tampering with the voting machines.

Election security experts told CBS News that unsubstantiated claims that machines are flipping ballots have been circulating for years, and while voting machines have potential vulnerabilities, there is no evidence that machines have been hacked or programmed to manipulate ballots.

Election officials dispute viral claims

According to David Becker, election law writer for CBS News and founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, claims of “swapped” or “flipped” votes have been around since at least 2004, raised by both Democrats and Republicans.

Becker said human error was the cause of “every single” vote-switching allegation he has faced, but those isolated incidents are often cited as evidence to falsely allege widespread fraud.

In Tarrant County, officials said one in 58,000 ballots cast on the first day of early voting was misprinted due to a voter error. The claims gained attention online after a viral video showed a man insisting that the machine swapped his voice.

State officials in Georgia have denied a similar claim after Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene alleged that a Dominion machine altered a voter's ballot in her district. This claim was based on an anonymous viral Facebook post.

The Whitfield County Board of Elections and the Georgia Secretary of State's Office as well as Dominion Voting Systems all said the problem was due to voter error and said the problem was resolved while the voter was at the polling place.

“There’s a reason we tell people to check their ballots. People make mistakes,” said Gabriel Sterling, COO of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, in a post on X.

In Tennessee, Democratic Rep. Antonio Parkinson claimed that Democratic candidates' votes had become Republican votes. However, the Shelby County Election Commission said there were no voting irregularities and urged voters to carefully examine their ballots before casting them.

Election security and voting machines

In 2020, false claims were made about voting machines, among other things Dominion electoral systems And Smartmaticwidespread. The claims, amplified by then-President Donald Trump and his deputies in the election campaignprompted the companies to file defamation lawsuits against people and media outlets that spread the claims.

Fox News completed They announced their defamation lawsuit in 2023 and agreed to pay Dominion more than $787 million for repeatedly spreading false allegations about the company.

In 2024, some of Trump's supporters, including X owner Elon Muskhave continued to raise doubts about the integrity of voting machines and called for their ban.

Voting machines are tested both before and after voting to ensure they are working properly, said Derek Tisler, a consultant in the Brennan Center's elections and government program.

Tisler said one of the most important security precautions in elections is a paper record of the vote. Adopting a paper record has been a priority for states since 2016, he said, and about 98% of votes cast in the 2024 election will have a paper trail.

“Election officials will review a sample of these paper records after the election to confirm the voting machine counts,” Tisler said. “And if there is any reason to suspect a problem with the voting machines, they can rely on those paper records to determine an accurate count.”

Experts also acknowledge that voting machines have potential vulnerabilities and, like any technology, should be updated and reviewed for security improvements.

Hand-marked paper ballots are the “gold standard protection” for Americans, according to J. Alex Halderman, an election security expert and professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan. Halderman said about 70% of the country votes on hand-marked ballots.

Tisler said problems like frozen screens or jammed ballot scanners are much more likely than any kind of “malicious” interference or hacking. He also said voters could unknowingly make the wrong choice on touch screens.

“If I accidentally make a typo in a text message I sent, I wouldn’t immediately assume my phone was hacked, and I would encourage voters to have the same kind of patience and understanding,” Tisler said.

Experts said it is imperative for voters to check their ballots and make sure all decisions are correct before casting them. And voters should remember that election officials have a plan to address problems and ensure your vote is counted.