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Election Security Spotlight – What Is Misinformation?

An Overview of Misinformation

Misinformation is inaccurate information that has the potential to undermine the election process in your jurisdiction. Examples include, but aren’t limited to, inaccurate information about election dates, mail ballot rules, ballot information, polling place hours and status, election night reporting procedures, post-election procedures, and voting technology.

Why It Matters

Election officials are the trusted source of election information. They play a key role in reporting misinformation. If you spot misinformation about your election jurisdiction on social media, you can submit it to the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC). We’ll work with the social media platforms and other partners to get it addressed. We will provide updates to you any time we receive any meaningful information about your case depending on the platforms involved, what they discover, and what decisions they make on reported content.

What You Can Do

Report any inaccurate or misleading information on social media that concerns your jurisdiction and pertains to the administration or security of an election in the United States. Send an email to [email protected]. Copy others in your state or locality who should also see the information, such as the office of your state’s chief election official. Include the following information:

  • A screenshot of the social media post and, if possible, the link.
  • Your name, role, jurisdiction, and work email address.
  • A description of why this information is false – not just “This is wrong” but information about why you think it’s wrong. This doesn’t have to be more than a couple of sentences, but more detail is better. Citing a law is even better.

If you or anyone in your office receives a threat on social media:

  • If you feel there is any chance of an immediate risk to you or others, call 911.
  • Contact your FBI Elections Crime Coordinator. If you don’t know your Elections Crimes Coordinator, contact your local FBI field office and ask to speak to the Elections Crimes Coordinator.
  • Contact your local CISA Physical Security Advisor (PSA).

For additional information, please review the CISA’s Mis-, Dis-, and Malinformation page and the CISA Toolkit.