Mistakes Are Not Malfeasance – It’s Important to Know the Difference

The 2020 Presidential Election is well underway, and judging by Early Voting data, voter participation in many states is already at an all-time high. As of October 15, more than 17 million Americans have already cast ballots.

This passion is a proxy for intense scrutiny on election administration nationwide. In the current polarized environment, every hiccup and anomaly in how elections are being run is potentially a reason for partisans on both sides to allege “fraud,” “suppression,” or similar claims. Needless to say, all of those conditions are corrosive to democracy, and they need to be rooted out whenever they occur. Voter suppression has a long and shameful history in the U.S., and small-scale fraud does sometimes occur (though only very rarely, as documented data shows, and not in sufficient numbers to affect outcomes). So, at the same time, concerns about these issues can’t simply be dismissed.

On the other hand, responding to every error in election administration as evidence of malfeasance also carries very real risks. Even well-intentioned criticisms have the potential to undermine voter confidence in elections, by making things look worse than they might be in fact. Yes, citizens have a right to expect extremely high standards in election administration, as the vote is sacred; but it’s also true that election officials, their staff, and vendors can and do make mistakes. They are human beings. Even spaceflight in the U.S. has suffered due to human error and unanticipated challenges.

Elections are no different. And especially given how election administrators, poll workers, and vendors are reeling due to changes from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s critically important for voters and citizens of good faith to carefully assess the difference between honest mistakes and malfeasance that requires deeper investigation. For example, misprinted ballots are likely just that – namely, a failure of overwhelmed election officials to proofread as closely as they should (and misprinted ballots can be replaced). Similarly, although photos of long lines could be signs of unacceptable delays that burden voters, they might simply appear longer than usual, due to social distancing and extraordinary voter turnout on the first day of early voting. It’s not always easy to discern what’s going on with an apparent problem; every case needs to be carefully assessed, based on the facts on the ground.

With scarcely three weeks until voting ends on November 3, protecting democracy means that it’s essential to properly distinguish between “honest mistakes” and more nefarious conditions that could impact election outcomes. Particularly given the speed at which information travels through social media, if voters and the media are not circumspect, they may unwittingly spread misinformation or worse yet, disinformation.

Here are five tips to consider:

1. There’s always a story behind an image – and don’t assume you know what it is. Rather than assuming what’s going on (again, for example, with apparently mishandled ballots, or long lines), seek out the facts before simply hitting “Retweet” or “Share.” Images are static, and partial information tells only a partial story.

2. Context and details matter – so seek them out. Elections are more complex than most people assume, and there’s almost certainly more to the story than might appear at first blush.

3. Seek out trusted sources of information. If voters see something that appears to be a concern, they should go straight to trusted sources when they have questions — namely, their local election officials. Don’t rely on speculation or casual commentary from friends. Most voters can contact their County Clerk or Township Clerk to have questions answered. (Indeed, election officials will likely be grateful to learn about “stories” being discussed in social media, because there’s a good chance they are too busy simply processing ballots to monitor communications.) If a problem is something that elections officials can speak to, with an explanation of what happened, why, and what they are doing to respond, then it’s probably a legitimate “mistake” – and not malfeasance.

4. Accept the reality that ‘stuff’ happens. Election officials are human too. Mistakes will happen. And their working environment is more burdensome and stressful this year because of all of the changes associated with the pandemic. Furthermore, almost every mistake has some form of recovery. If ballots are misprinted, election officials have the ability to identify the ballot styles and voters that were affected, and they can send replacements; if staffing is inadequate at certain in-person polling locations, they likely have days or weeks to “adapt” and try to make changes on-the-fly. If electronic poll books aren’t functioning properly, voters (and the media) will complain, election officials will hear about it, and they can contact their vendor to troubleshoot the issue and improve polling place operations.

5. Election officials must be extra-transparent – to be sure, seek out well-vetted channels and experts. When mistakes happen, election officials need to be forthcoming with details: why did the mistakes happen, what’s understood about the errors, what is the impact on voters, and what was done to mitigate the mistakes? In short, transparency plus communication equals more voter confidence. We recognize that rapid communication response may be a difficult challenge for resource-constrained election officials; they will almost certainly want for more staff to be able to address voters when problems arise; but some of the burden can be shared through innovative channels, such as relying on well-vetted “influencers” on social media to support the dissemination of official communications from the central elections office, for example.

And finally, here’s the reason these tips matter the most:  If election officials and savvy voters aren’t attempting to disentangle mistakes from malfeasance with facts and information, then someone else will fill that vacuum, with misinformation or disinformation.

The Takeaway 

Voters should slow down, and seek to understand — because bad actors will try to take advantage of those who don’t. Recognize that when mistakes occur, and when shortcomings in election administration become apparent, bad actors will try to add fuel to the fire by distorting the facts. Don’t let them. Social media in particular makes this more challenging, because information moves so quickly in that environment; even well-meaning people may unwittingly spread bad information, because it’s quick and easy to simply hit “Retweet” or “Share.”

The facts are that the vast majority (really, nearly all) election officials are hardworking, competent, ethical, and deeply patriotic. So think twice and ask questions before drawing conclusions when apparent problems arise. Mistakes will happen, and they are not necessarily evidence of malfeasance. Please know the difference.