Facts Matter: Voter fraud doesn't increase with mail-in ballots

After the midterm elections, many fraud claims were focused on mail-in ballots.

Citing unofficial results from a Florida election, an Instagram user pointed to Democrat Kelly Skidmore's win over Republican Dorcas Hernandez, after Skidmore received more than three times the number of mail-in votes as her opponent.

"This is what textbook election theft via vote by mail ballot looks like. If this is not stopped expect more mail order marxist sock puppets," the post read, according to The Associated Press.

But when the winner simply receives more mail-in votes than the other candidate, that isn't proof of election theft Mail-in ballots are vetted the same as other ballots.

Voting in all states requires a signature on each ballot, and many states also require a form of identification or proof of voter registration. Some elections have bipartisan teams of officials to verify the signatures and ballots.

An AP report looking at the 2020 election showed there was very little fraud associated with vote-by-mail initiatives.

In a survey of election officials from across the country, the AP found no cases of ballot fraud or incidents of theft or vandalism at drop boxes that would have affected the results of that election.

Sharpies don't invalidate ballots

As for local elections, there were claims across social media that using permanent markers in the voting booth would invalidate ballots.

"Election Alerts: LaGrange Precinct 89 voters report sharpies being used on ballots, which isn't allowed. NO SHARPIES ON BALLOTS," read one tweet.

But that's not accurate. Many in-person voters who chose a written ballot used Sharpie pens to cast their votes.

On Election Day, the Illinois State Board of Elections tweeted a response.

"IMPORTANT NOTICE," the statement read. "Sharpie pens are the preferred ballot marking method for many voting systems. There is no need to be concerned about the use of Sharpies in the polling place. They have been tested and approved to be used on these devices."

Frank Herrera, communications director for the Cook County clerk's office, told PolitiFact there shouldn't be a problem with the ink because it dries "almost instantly."

"If there is bleed-through, it is not an issue because the ovals are staggered and do not line up front to back. This only becomes an issue if there's bleed-through from page to page, and voters were advised to keep the pages separated to avoid any bleed-through," he said.

Actor didn't play Trump at wedding

Former President Donald Trump recently attended the wedding of his daughter Tiffany, held at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

But a recent Instagram post claims neither Donald nor Tiffany was actually at the Nov. 12 event.

"Great actors . Look at the actor playing trump . (there are a few) standing next to the actor playing tiffany? (their height does not add up)," read the post, which included a photo of Donald and Tiffany, along with Tiffany's new husband, Michael Boulos, and mother, Marla Maples.

But there is no evidence they were actors, according to Reuters.

The post refers to the height of the former president and his daughter. Tiffany is 5 feet, 8 inches tall and Donald is 6 foot, 3 inches, but in the photo he appears to be just slightly taller than her.

In other photos of the pair, Donald is much taller than Tiffany; however, when she is wearing high heels, the difference is similar to the amount in the wedding photo.

Although there are no photos or any information about the shoes Tiffany wore at the wedding ceremony, during the reception, she was photographed wearing high platform heels.

In those photos, the height difference with Boulos is similar to the amount in the ceremony photo posted with the claim.

Man didn't use 'nuke' to power home

An Instagram post, shared on Facebook, appears to be a CNN story about a man using a discarded nuclear bomb to power his home for nearly three decades.

"Florida man arrested for using a lost U.S. nuke to power his home for more than 27 years," reads the headline above two images, one is a mug shot of a man and the other shows a scuba diver underwater next to what is supposed to be the nuclear device. Below the headline reads, "By Ivana Kottasova and Amy Cassidy, CNN."

But this entire post is fake, according to PolitiFact.

The headline can't be found on CNN's website. The mug shot is from a man who was arrested in 2016 in Albany, New York, and charged with aggravated harassment.

And the underwater photo was taken from a German news story about bombs, not nuclear explosives, that were dropped during a 1943 air raid of a German military site.

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.