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In an election year that saw unprecedented turnout, @Electionland partnered with more than 160 national & local newsrooms to cover voting problems during early voting and on Election Day. Here are some highlights of their collective efforts. (THREAD)
2/ While there were scattered reports of disruptive behavior and tech hiccups, overall, Election Day went smoothly for a hotly contested election during a pandemic. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/election-day-2020-voters-battle-lines-malfunctioning-machines-misinformation-some-n1245963
3/ In Detroit, one COVID-positive voter nearly gave up after trying to find a location that would let him vote. “I got kids, and I try to teach them the moral value of voting, showing their democracy and what America is built on,” he told @freep https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/04/what-its-like-vote-when-you-have-covid-19/6156342002/
4/ Luckily, he was finally able to vote after receiving guidance on where to go. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/11/04/covid-19-pandemic-impact-michigan-election-absentee-ballot/6148406002/
5/ Two U.S. diplomats and their spouses stationed in Germany sent absentee ballots to MN that never arrived, so they had to Fedex replacement ballots in the hopes they’d arrive in time. https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-voters-scramble-to-return-early-absentee-ballots/572942622/
6/ “I’m a diplomat representing the United States government. And for me to have questions about why my ballot is not being received or counted makes it harder to do my job,” one of them told @MinnPost https://www.minnpost.com/elections/2020/11/for-two-u-s-diplomats-from-st-paul-appeals-court-ballot-ruling-may-mean-losing-their-vote/
7/ Some voters who hadn’t received their absentee ballots traveled across the country to vote in person.
Like a North Carolina college student who flew home to Colorado to vote for the first time... https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/college-student-in-north-carolina-flies-home-to-colorado-to-cast-his-vote
Like a North Carolina college student who flew home to Colorado to vote for the first time... https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/college-student-in-north-carolina-flies-home-to-colorado-to-cast-his-vote
8/ ...And two DC college students who drove 30 hours home to Texas to cast their ballots: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/10/30/texas-voting-traveling-absentee/
9/ “I had a sense of relief, just this huge sigh of relief, that I got it done,” a Georgia voter who drove from Massachusetts to vote told @washingtonpost https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/90-million-early-ballots/2020/10/31/58c93c92-1b84-11eb-aeec-b93bcc29a01b_story.html
10/ In California, officials are investigating a potentially fraudulent voting center set up in Orange County, @voiceofoc reported. https://voiceofoc.org/2020/11/elections-officials-and-da-investigate-alleged-fake-vote-center-in-westminster/
11/ An armed man was arrested in Charlotte, North Carolina for trespassing after he allegedly intimidated voters outside a polling place. 10/ https://patch.com/north-carolina/huntersville/s/hauud/armed-man-arrested-charlotte-polling-site-cmpd
12/ Some Dearborn, Michigan, voters received texts with false information about how ballot sensors could affect their vote, telling them to fill in the wrong bubbles on their ballots: https://detourdetroiter.com/why-dearborn-election-misinformation-texts-alarm-voting-rights-experts/
13/ And WeChat messages trying to scare voters into staying home on Election Day circulated among some Chinese American voters, as @propublica reported with @kqed. https://www.kqed.org/news/11844936/misinformation-on-wechat-attempts-to-frighten-chinese-americans-out-of-voting
14/ Want to learn more about how the election went this year? Sign up for our event TODAY at 3 p.m. ET and hear from experts. http://propublica.org/ElectionTalk
