In Brief:
- Claims of election fraud have continued since 2020, setting the stage for distrust in 2024 outcomes.
- All election offices allow observers, but some are also offering live video streams.
- In Arizona, state law requires live video in every place votes are counted.
Claims of election fraud have never withstood standards of truth required in court, but they continue to be amplified on social media and have been used in 2024 election campaigns. Ballot counting is about to begin, and in a number of states election offices are combating myths about election interference by inviting the public in to view their processes via video livestreams.
In Arizona, a swing state that has endured more unfounded claims of fraud than most, state law requires live video feeds in rooms where ballots are counted.
As became evident in the 2020 election, this openness comes with the potential for viewers to misunderstand (or intentionally misinterpret) what they are seeing. In 2020, some claimed that video footage showed election workers throwing away ballots or otherwise engaging in fraudulent behavior.
The most costly outcome of such misperception is the nearly $150 million judgment against Rudi Giuliani for defaming two Georgia election workers. He falsely claimed that video showed a mother passing a USB drive to her daughter to scan ballots hidden in suitcases. In fact, the mother was passing along a ginger mint.
Despite the risk of willful misinterpretation, many localities have decided transparency and up-to-the-minute oversight is worth it. Here are some of the places where it’s possible to watch votes being counted live.
Arizona
A page on Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ website includes links to tabulation rooms in every county. These feeds will be live when counting begins.
L.A. County, Calif.
L.A. County, home to nearly 6 million registered voters, offers live feeds of its voting processes. Mail-in ballots can be counted up to 29 days before election day. Verification can take up to 30 days.
Clatsop County, Ore.
The county clerk and elections office in Clatsop, Ore., will provide livestreaming of all phases of ballot processing, from receiving and signature verification to counting.
Delaware County, Pa.
Delaware County, the fifth-most populous in a 2024 swing state, is streaming video from 10 different cameras.
(Delaware County)
King County, Wash.
Washington is a vote-by-mail state, and every registered voter receives a mail-in ballot. The day before the election, 47 percent of registered voters had already cast their ballots. King County offers multiple live views of sorting, opening and scanning.
(King County)
