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These fact checks of North Carolina politics are a collaboration between PolitiFact and WRAL. You can hear them Wednesdays on WFAE's Morning Edition.

Fact Check: Viral social media post claims Helene-related NC election changes are attempts to cheat

Voting sign in English and Spanish.
Wikimedia Commons
Voting sign in English and Spanish.

It's time for a fact-check of North Carolina politics. Election Day is just under two weeks away, but people are already casting ballots in North Carolina. Following Hurricane Helene's devastation, the state eased some rules in western North Carolina to make it easier for those affected by the storm to cast their ballots. But a social media post that's been viewed more than 3.5 million times claims the changes are an attempt by the state to sway the election results. For a closer look, Paul Specht, of WRAL, joins me now.

Marshall Terry: First, what changes did the state make to election rules in western North Carolina? And, why?

Paul Specht: They tried to improve ballot access. And to do that, they allowed county Boards of Elections — through bipartisan votes — to modify their early voting sites if need be. As you can imagine, a lot of the early voting sites have issues — whether they were flooded or physically damaged, and they might need to move them. They also allowed county boards — again through a vote — to move Election Day voting sites. Not just early voting sites, but also Election Day voting sites. They also allowed people in the western part of the state more time to request an absentee ballot. They also allowed more places to return an absentee ballot. And, finally, they expanded the qualifications of the people who can work as election workers to make sure that these polling sites would have enough staff.

Terry: So this post on X by MJTruthUltra reads: “There it is folks… Hurricane Helene was about cheating in the Election.” And the post lists the changes the state made. Who is MJTruthUltra? And, what’s the argument they make that the changes are designed to cheat in the election?

Specht: Well, we're not sure 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 about 300,000 followers.

In truth, these changes were voted on by a bipartisan Board of Elections here in North Carolina, the state board. Now, Democrats do have a 3-2 majority, but the Republicans voted for this, too.

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

Specht: Right. And, we've checked many of those. And we've found that, obviously, frankly, they're ridiculous on their face.

This one is also sort of ridiculous, and here's why. We looked into other claims about people withholding aid in western North Carolina. That's not true.

One reason people thought that is because former President Donald Trump carried not only North Carolina, but western North Carolina, by a large margin back in the 2020 election. So the idea that these changes amount to stealing is kind of ridiculous because they're trying to make it easier to vote and access a ballot in areas that are predominantly Republican.

Terry: So how did you rate this claim?

Specht: We rated this "pants on fire." We give that to claims that are not only false — but that are ridiculous. One, there's no evidence of any cheating by elections board members or election workers. Then secondly, these changes will predominantly help Republicans in this region.

And, finally, we spoke with a Republican board member on the State Board of Elections and asked him, what do you make of the changes? Do people have any reason to be skeptical?

I'll give you his quote. He said, "No change has been made to the qualifications to vote, the voter registration process, the vote tabulation process or voter ID requirements." And he said, these rumors "seem like an attempt to sensationalize something that is not controversial." And so I think his comments on this matter speak for themselves.

Terry: All right, Paul. Thank you.

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Marshall came to WFAE after graduating from Appalachian State University, where he worked at the campus radio station and earned a degree in communication. Outside of radio, he loves listening to music and going to see bands - preferably in small, dingy clubs.