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Claim: 100,000 defective New York ballots will be cast illegally. Fact check: False

Brooklyn Bridge, New York ballots

The flawed mail-in ballots were mostly sent to voters in Brooklyn.

joe daniel price/Getty Images

President Trump tweeted Wednesday night about 100,000 defective ballots that were sent to voters in New York. Trump said the faulty ballots would be "used by somebody" and are part of a "scam."


It is true that 100,000 ballots were sent to voters mainly in Brooklyn with the wrong name or address. The executive director of the New York City Board of Elections, Michael Ryan, said during a meeting that the mishap was restricted to just one batch of ballots.

The city said the printing company, Phoenix Graphics, was behind the mishap and would cover the cost to send out corrected ballots in time for the election.

While voters who received a faulty ballot can call a hotline to get a new ballot, there have been reports of long wait times. Ryan said election workers would reach out to voters who completed the faulty ballots via phone, email or social media. Special markings on the new ballots will prevent both versions from being counted, in case voters send in the original and the replacement.

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"Voter Here" sign outside of a polling location.

"Voter Here" sign outside of a polling location.

Getty Images, Grace Cary

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President Trump’s election-related executive order begins by pointing out practices in Canada, Sweden, Brazil, and elsewhere that outperform the U.S. But it is Trump’s order itself that really demonstrates how far we’ve fallen behind. In none of the countries mentioned, or any other major democracy in the world, would the head of government change election rules by decree, as Trump has tried to do.

Trump is the leader of a political party that will fight for control of Congress in 2026, an election sure to be close, and important to his presidency. The leader of one side in such a competition has no business unilaterally changing its rules—that’s why executive decrees changing elections only happen in tinpot dictatorships, not democracies.

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- YouTube

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