Crowdsourced voter fraud claims are flooding social media ahead of the US election

The mass of election fraud claims spreading on social media is being aided by a network of groups that crowdsource accusations.

Groups like Texas-based True The Vote, founded in 2009, have long been at the forefront of questioning election security.

On an app VoteAlert developed by True the Vote, supporters post examples of alleged election irregularities.

They have amassed a wide range of claims, from minor security lapses to accusations of deliberate vote manipulation. The organization also has people monitoring live-streamed cameras pointed at ballot boxes in a number of states. Many local officials have repeatedly detailed the steps they have taken to make the boxes safe.

“Our hope is that we don’t see anything at all with these drop boxes,” True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht said during one of her recent regular online meetings for supporters.

But she also hinted that Democratic groups were bent on committing widespread election fraud.

“If they want to try to pull away the kinds of things that we saw being pulled in 2020, it’s very unlikely that they can get away with that because we literally have eyes everywhere,” she added.

The BBC contacted True the Vote for comment.

A number of other groups are asking supporters to report alleged irregularities.

Elon Musk’s American political action committee has started a community – similar to a message board – on X, full of rumors and accusations about voting. With 50,000 members, multiple posts appear every minute, almost around the clock.

Other efforts include the Election Integrity Network, a group founded by a former Trump lawyer that challenges voter registrations and recruits poll watchers — partisan observers who visit polling places.

The sheer number of posts on these platforms – along with the vagueness of some claims, often with anonymous sources – makes it almost impossible to verify every claim.

The groups and the Trump campaign say these efforts are solely to ensure the integrity of the vote. The BBC has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.