directly to misinformation, in both English
and Spanish.
“BREAKING: The #azaudit draft report from
Cyber Ninjas confirms the county’s canvass of
the 2020 General Election was accurate and the
candidates certified as the winners did, in fact,
win,” Maricopa County’s official Twitter account
tweeted in September.
During last year’s gubernatorial recall effort in
California, Los Angeles election officials found
that using social media to respond directly
to questions, mishaps at polling locations or
misleading claims helped quickly stamp out viral
misinformation or misunderstandings.
In one case, a Twitter user posted that he was
unable to cast his ballot at a polling location
because of a technical error that showed he had
already voted. His story started to gain traction
on social media, where it was held up as proof of
widespread voter fraud.
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder
County Clerk’s office responded publicly to the
tweets, explaining that staffers had reached
out to the voter directly to make sure he could
cast a ballot.
The approach helps build trust with voters, said
Mike Sanchez, a spokesperson for the office.
“Some individuals will just quite candidly tell us,
‘I never thought you would have responded,’”
he said.