NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out.

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Michigan bill does not prohibit recounts based on allegations of election fraud

CLAIM: A bill signed into law this week by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer prohibits vote recounts based on election fraud allegations.

THE FACTS: The bill, SB 603, does not prohibit such recounts, according to two state senators involved in updating the laws around recounts. It stipulates that candidates may request a recount if they have a “good-faith belief” that they would have had a “reasonable chance” to win the election if not for an “error” in the vote counting process. That means that the number of votes the petitioning candidate requests to be recounted must be greater than the difference of votes between them and the winning candidate.

After Whitmer, a Democrat, signed the bill on Monday, social media users misrepresented what it will mean for the ability to obtain recounts.

“Holy Fvck! Michigan Gov. Whitmer signed bills into law that will prohibit election recounts conducted due to allegations of voter fraud,” reads one X post that had received approximately 43,000 likes and 23,500 shares as of Friday. “Democrats will stop at nothing to prevent election fraud from being exposed!”

But recounts can still be initiated by fraud allegations under SB 603, according to its sponsors. They say the bill was written to make obtaining a comprehensive recount easier, if there is legitimate reason to believe it could change the result of an election, and to prevent frivolous ones. It also clarifies how suspected fraud should be investigated.

“This whole piece about fraud is just honestly based on a lot of misinterpretation, of which I think some of it’s probably intentional misinterpretation,” said Democratic state Sen. Stephanie Chang, the bill’s primary sponsor.

State Sen. Jeremy Moss, the primary sponsor of a companion bill, SB 604, explained that SB 603 does the opposite of what the claims spreading online allege.

“It is modernizing the law so that all ballots can be subject to a recount,” said the Democrat, who is chair of the Michigan Senate elections and ethics committee. “This is making the integrity of the election results stronger. And this is subjecting more, if not all, ballots in a given election to a recount.”

SB 603 states that a candidate must “be able to allege a good-faith belief that, but for error in the canvass or returns of the votes, the candidate would have a reasonable chance of winning the election.” It further stipulates that “the number of votes requested to be recounted must, at minimum, be greater than the difference in votes between the petitioning candidate and the winning candidate.”

Similar guidelines for ballot questions are outlined in the bill.

Accusations that the bill doesn’t allow for recounts because of fraud grow in part from a wording change in SB 603, which replaces the words “fraud or mistake” with “error.” Chang and Moss explained that fraud is included under the error umbrella, and that the language was condensed in part because there have been candidates who were hesitant to request a recount if fraud wasn’t a concern.

Critics, however, have suggested that this change could be detrimental to a fair electoral process.

“They ultimately work to discourage the notion that fraud could be a reason for a discrepancy,” state Rep. Jay DeBoyer, a Republican who serves on the House elections committee, wrote in a May press release about SB 603 and SB 604. “That is an extremely reactive policy that discards transparency and doesn’t deliver a better elections system.”

State Rep. Jaime Greene, also a Republican, said in a June statement that “watering down protections is counterproductive when several red flags have arisen within the state’s elections process.”

There have been instances where precincts couldn’t be recounted if they were “out of balance,” meaning the number of people who signed into the poll book didn’t match the number of submitted ballots. During a recount of a close election for Detroit city clerk in 2017, for instance, votes from 33 precincts representing more than 7,000 votes couldn’t be re-tallied, according to local news reports from that time.

One example of why a precinct might be out of balance is if a voter signs the poll book, but decides not to vote and throws out their ballot, or leaves the precinct with it. SB 603 is intended to ensure that more precincts will be eligible for recounts if necessary, so that all valid ballots can be included. The bill also adds and lowers thresholds for automatic recounts.

“It takes into account if there’s a reasonable explanation of why a precinct can be out of balance,” Moss said.

Additionally, SB 603 clarifies the limits of a recount and stipulates that a board of canvassers, whose duties include conducting recounts, is not responsible for investigating fraud. It states that a recount is “an administrative process limited to determining the number of votes cast on ballots for each candidate seeking a particular office or determining the number of votes cast for or against a ballot question” and not “an investigation or an audit of the conduct of an election.” Possible fraud should be reported to local prosecutors or the state attorney general, according to the bill.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson issued a press release in May reminding boards of canvassers that the state’s constitution and election law does not authorize them to conduct investigations. It explains that statutes “define the obligation of canvassers as a ‘ministerial, clerical and nondiscretionary’ duty to certify election results based solely on election returns.”

Whitmer signed SB 603 into law on Monday. It will go into effect the 91st day after the final adjournment of the Michigan legislature’s 2024 regular session, which is currently scheduled to end in December.

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Video of Florida voter registration drive used to mislead on proof of citizenship question

CLAIM: A video shows a worker at a voter registration drive in Florida registering people to vote without asking for proof of citizenship.

THE FACTS: It’s true workers at the drive did not ask for proof of U.S. citizenship, but that’s because the law does not require such proof to register to vote. However, federal and state law stipulates that Florida voters must be U.S. citizens to cast a ballot in any race. Voters confirm their citizenship under penalty of perjury. Noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare in the U.S. as states, including Florida, have processes to prevent it.

Shortly before the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, social media users shared a video of a voter registration drive in Palm Beach, Florida, to raise questions about noncitizens voting in U.S. elections.

In the video, a worker with Mi Familia en Acción speaks with a man and a woman outside the Central Palm Beach Service Center. The pair questions the worker about whether people register to vote inside, why she and her colleagues are wearing blue shirts, if she is registered to vote, if she is a U.S. citizen, and who funds Mi Familia en Acción.

The woman then asks the worker, “What do you have to have to sign up to vote? A driver’s license?” The worker replies, “No — no, no, no, you have to be a U.S. citizen. It’s a felony.” After the woman asks how registrants prove their citizenship, the worker says that “you have to trust in the people” and reiterates that lying about U.S. citizenship on a voter registration form is a felony.

“‘Mi Familia Vota’ worker in Palm Beach is registering voters near the DMV,” reads one X post that shared the video. “Proof of citizenship isn’t required.” It had received approximately 21,000 likes and 11,700 shares as of Wednesday.

The video was first posted on X by Jeff Buongiorno, a Republican candidate for supervisor of elections in Palm Beach County. Buongiorno asked whether this is “what Floridian’s had in mind” when the state constitution was amended in 2020 to require voters in Florida elections to be U.S. citizens.

Mi Familia en Acción and Mi Familia Vota are nonprofit, nonpartisan sister organizations that support the Latino community. The latter is registered in Florida as a third party voter registration organization.

Mi Familia en Acción confirmed that the video shows a voter registration drive it hosted in Palm Beach and that the worker is a temporary paid canvasser, but refuted the baseless implication about fraudulent activities related to the event.

“Mi Familia en Acción is a non-partisan organization, voter registrations are part of our day-to-day work to strengthen our democracy,” the organization wrote in a statement. “We do not encourage or register non-citizens to vote.”

Buongiorno told The Associated Press that he is “100% concerned that they’re registering noncitizens” and that Florida’s current laws “are disenfranchising citizens from coming out and voting.”

“I’m concerned of fraudulent registrations by noncitizens, I’m concerned about synthetic identities, and we need to tighten this up in the state of Florida or our elected officials who certify the elections, they’ll be committing perjury when they certify the 2024 election,” he continued.

Although it is true Florida voters are not required to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote, all voters in the state must be U.S. citizens, according to federal and state law. They must confirm as much under penalty of perjury upon registration. Voting as a noncitizen, or even just registering to vote, can be punishable by fines, prison or deportation.

Though research shows there have been incidences of noncitizen voting over the years across the U.S., it’s exceedingly rare, in part because of the risk involved. States, including Florida, have additional mechanisms to prevent it, though there isn’t one standard protocol they all follow.

“People, by and large, do not falsely submit voter registration applications when they don’t believe that they’re eligible because the risk is just too high,” Valencia Richardson, legal counsel for voting rights at the Campaign Legal Center, told the AP. “The consequences, particularly for noncitizens, are simply not worth it.”

A handful of municipalities in other states allow noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens are never allowed to cast ballots at the federal or state level.

Richardson explained that both federal and state law require Florida election officials to maintain accurate voter lists. This means removing anyone who is ineligible to vote, including noncitizens, but also ensuring that eligible voters are not unlawfully removed. She said there are many ways to confirm citizenship, such as checking department of motor vehicle records, asking the secretary of state’s office or getting in touch with the voter themselves.

The Florida Department of State did not respond to a request for comment.

Research and audits in several states show that there have been noncitizens who successfully registered to vote and cast ballots, although it happens rarely and is typically by mistake.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, for example, recently found 137 suspected noncitizens on the state’s rolls — out of roughly 8 million voters — and said he was taking action to confirm and remove them.

In 2023, Florida removed 268,521 active voters from its registration rolls and as of May 31, had removed 113,166 in 2024 so far. The data does not break down why they were removed. In addition to not being a U.S. citizen, reasons for removal can include death, a felony conviction, not listing a valid Florida residence, or moving out of state.

Florida currently has approximately 13.4 million active registered voters. When registering, new applicants must provide a Florida driver’s license or identification card number, or the last four digits of their social security number. Alternative forms of ID for those who do not have any of these numbers include a U.S. passport, debit or credit card number, utility bill, or bank statement. Voters must present a picture ID with their signature when voting at a polling place.

The House on Wednesday passed the SAVE (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) Act, a Republican proposal that would institute a proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration. It is unlikely to advance through the Democratic-led Senate and the Biden administration said it’s strongly opposed to the legislation because it says safeguards already are in place to verify voter eligibility and enforce the law against noncitizens trying to cast ballots. Democrats are also concerned that the bill would disenfranchise some U.S. citizens.

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Posts falsely blame Ukraine for a missile strike on Kyiv children’s hospital

CLAIM: Ukraine is responsible for a missile strike that hit the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv on Monday.

THE FACTS: Ukraine’s Security Service wrote in a statement on Telegram that it found wreckage from a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile at the hospital and has opened proceedings on war crime charges. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed without evidence in a Telegram post that images from Kyiv showed the damage was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile. As supposed proof of Ukraine’s responsibility, social media users shared old photos, falsely claiming they showed shrapnel from such missiles that was found at the hospital following Monday’s attack.

After Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital was struck as part of a daytime barrage that saw dozens of Russian missiles target five Ukrainian cities, posts circulated social media falsely claiming that Ukraine was at fault for the hit.

“Ukraine blew up their own children’s hospital in Kiev this morning with an American air defense missile,” reads one X post that had received approximately 9,200 likes and more than 4,300 shares as of Monday. “Stop sending these TERRORISTS BOMBS @POTUS.”

But Ukraine’s Security Service wrote on Telegram that it found wreckage from a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile at the site — including fragments of the rear hull with a serial number and a rudder — and opened proceedings on war crimes.

The Kh-101 is an air-launched missile that flies low to avoid detection by radar. Ukraine said it shot down 11 of 13 Kh-101 missiles launched Monday, The Associated Press has reported. The International Criminal Court’s founding charter says it is a war crime to intentionally attack “hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry, also on Telegram, said the strikes targeted Ukrainian defense plants and military air bases and were successful. It denied aiming at any civilian facilities and claimed without evidence that pictures from Kyiv indicated the damage at the hospital was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile.

Since early in the Russia-Ukraine war that is well into its third year, Russian officials have regularly claimed that Moscow’s forces never attack civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, despite abundant evidence to the contrary, including AP reporting.

Some posts are sharing photos they claim show shrapnel from Ukrainian air defense missiles found at the hospital as supposed evidence that Ukraine is at fault for the attack. One image has been online since at least 2022 and another since at least May.

Two other photos were originally posted on Telegram by a Ukrainian media outlet with the caption, “Debris from rockets is found in Kyiv after a massive rocket attack.” The post, written in Ukrainian, does not specify what kind of rockets the debris is from or where in Kyiv it was found.

At least 31 people were killed and more than 150 wounded in Monday’s missile barrage, the AP has reported. It was Russia’s heaviest bombardment of Kyiv in almost four months, hitting seven of the city’s 10 districts. Seven people were killed in the capital, including two staff members at the hospital, where three children were hurt. Strikes in Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s birthplace in central Ukraine, killed 10.

The attack unfolded a day before Western leaders who have backed Ukraine were scheduled to begin a three-day NATO summit in Washington to consider how they can reassure Kyiv of the alliance’s unwavering support and offer Ukrainians hope that their country can survive Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.