(AP) — False claims are spreading online about an election tech company this week after many social media users interpreted a clerk's error in Michigan as vote-rigging because it wrongly favored Joe Biden before being fixed.
Posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram claim without evidence that prominent Democrats have deep ties to Dominion Voting Systems, the company that supplies election equipment to Michigan and at least 30 states nationwide.
Claims that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and the Clinton Foundation have interest or influence in Dominion are all unsubstantiated.
Dominion did not respond to a request for comment on these claims.
Dominion made a one-time philanthropic commitment at a Clinton Global Initiative meeting in 2014, but the Clinton Foundation has no stake or involvement in Dominion’s operations, the nonprofit confirmed to the AP. A former aide to Pelosi has represented Dominion as a lobbyist, but so have lobbyists who worked for Republicans. Claims that Feinstein’s husband, Richard Blum, holds a stake in Dominion are baseless.
When Michigan’s Antrim County initially reported a landslide win for Biden, social media users grew suspicious about the Dominion. As it turned out, Dominion was not to blame, according to the Michigan Department of State. “There was no malice, no fraud here, just human error,” County Clerk Sheryl Guy told the AP.
The issue was quickly corrected, and President Donald Trump won a majority of votes in that county.
