- Twitter on Monday labeled a Trump tweet about mail-in voting as making a "potentially misleading claim about an election," and banned users from liking or sharing it.
- Trump's tweet claimed without evidence that a recent Supreme Court ruling — allowing Pennsylvania to count mail-in ballots that arrive up to three days after Election Day — would lead to widespread election fraud.
- A Twitter spokesperson said the tweet violated the platform's "civic integrity" policy and that it would "significantly restrict engagements" with the tweet.
- Trump has repeatedly attempted to cast doubt on mail-in voting, but fact-checkers and election experts have consistently found virtually no evidence of fraud connected with the voting method, which has been used for years.
Twitter on the eve of Election Day, labeled yet another tweet from President Donald Trump for violating its policies against spreading election-related misinformation and prevented users from sharing or liking the tweet.
Trump tweeted Monday evening — without evidence — that a recent decision by the US Supreme Court to allow Pennsylvania to count mail-in ballots received up to three days after Election Day would lead to widespread election fraud and violence.
The state's Supreme Court had extended the deadline in response to the coronavirus pandemic and postal delays, and the US Supreme Court did not approve a request from Republican state officials to block the extension. The ruling requires county election officials to count ballots that arrive by November 6, as long as there's no evidence they were mailed after the polls closed on November 3, even if their postmarks were illegible or missing.
"The Supreme Court decision on voting in Pennsylvania is a VERY dangerous one," Trump tweeted, without evidence. "It will allow rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine our entire systems of laws. It will also induce violence in the streets. Something must be done!"
There is no evidence that the ruling will lead to increased voter fraud, violence, or upend the US legal system. Election results are never finalized on election night, and it's a normal part of the electoral process for ballots to be counted days or even weeks after voters go to the polls.
"We placed a warning on [Trump's tweet] for making a potentially misleading claim about an election," a Twitter spokesperson told Business Insider. "This action is in line with our Civic Integrity Policy, and as is standard with this warning, we will significantly restrict engagements on this Tweet."
This is not the first time Twitter has slapped a warning on one of Trump's tweets about mail-in voting. The platform took action on a misleading Trump tweet last week, also falsely claiming all ballots must be counted by Election Day and has applied fact checks on multiple occasions since first doing so in May.
In the months leading up to the election, Trump has ratcheted up his attacks on mail-in voting and other standard and legitimate aspects of the electoral process, without evidence, and at times echoed by prominent Republicans.
Historically, election experts have found that all voter fraud, including mail-in voter fraud, is exceedingly rare.
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