Members of far-right social media sites Gab, Gettr and Truth Social who believe fraud was committed in the 2020 election have stated they intend to serve as official poll workers in their jurisdictions on Tuesday, according to a new report.
The report from Advance Democracy Inc. found examples of users on sites Truth Social — the social media site owned by former President Donald Trump — and pro-Trump online forums who follow QAnon conspiracy theories. In posts compiled between March and late October of this year, several discuss their intent to identify voter fraud, including by installing their own software into elections computers. They also discussed bringing cameras to polling places and falsely claiming to be Democrats on their election worker applications.
“Individuals seeking to become election workers to prove unsubstantiated theories of election fraud, or to disqualify certain votes to change election outcomes, present a threat to the security of American elections,” read the report, first shared with POLITICO. Advance Democracy is a nonprofit research organization that studies misinformation and other election threats.
Election officials have been on high alert about the potential for insider threats arising from poll workers. A handful of Republican candidates and local officials, especially in Michigan, have encouraged their supporters to become poll workers and either tamper with equipment or bring in cell phones or note pads to document votes being cast or counted to try to catch any alleged malfeasance at polling places.