Be wary of election disinformation

Pritzker warns against social media, urges voters to ‘be patient’ for results election night

Gov. Pritzker is urging Illinoisans to be wary of what they take in and repost on social media on election night. (Illinois.gov)

By Ted Cox

The governor suggested Illinoisans should stay off social media Tuesday on Election Day, warning voters to at least be wary of misinformation spread on Twitter and Facebook.

“For the next few days, it’s extremely important that you not get your election news over social media,” Gov. Pritzker said Monday during a question-and-answer session following his daily coronavirus briefing at the Thompson Center in Chicago. “We know that there are foreign actors — specifically Russia, Iran, and others — who intend to promote misinformation throughout Election Day and in the days after.

“They would like nothing more than to promote conspiracy theories and sew discontent,” he added. Pritzker suggested voters seek information through local election websites and reputable national news media. “I urge anyone who wants up-to-the-minute news on the status of the election to go to reliable, trusted sources of information. Look at a variety of news outlets if you like, but be wary of claims you see on social media. Foreign actors posing as Americans are producing disinformation — such as fake videos or fake ‘official’ statements — hoping that you will repost it. So check before you repost anything — or, better yet, you may want to take the next few days off from social media. Facebook and Twitter will still be there in the morning.”

U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed that Russia, Iran, and China are all making attempts to disrupt the election in various ways, and Twitter and Facebook have both come under criticism for not doing a better job of policing disinformation spread through social media, both from international spambots and U.S. political sources seeking to sway voters at the 11th hour.

Pritzker called on those voting in person Election Day to “don’t forget to wear your mask and keep social distance,” but he also pointed out that the prevalence of mail-in ballots this year in the COVID-19 pandemic would make this election different. He urged voters to “be patient” as results are processed in races up and down the ballot and across the country.

“We have seen record numbers of early voters, especially vote-by-mail, here in Illinois and across the nation,” Pritzker said. “But counting votes that arrive by mail is time-consuming work for our county clerks and their staffs. With vote-by-mail hitting all-time records, that means that we have to be patient about the results of all races this year.”

Pritzker warned it could take until Wednesday or later in the week for some races or ballot issues to be determined “in Illinois and in states across the country.” That included the presidential election.

The governor expressed optimism about the Fair Tax Amendment at the top of the Illinois ballot — basically a referendum on the state constitution allowing a graduated income tax instead of the current flat tax. He echoed Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton and his own previous statements in saying that to balance the state budget after the damage done by his predecessor, Gov. Rauner, either all programs would have to be cut 15 percent across the board — including public education and law enforcement — or the General Assembly would have to “find revenue” by raising taxes on everyone under the current flat tax.

Pritzker called his own proposal for a Fair Tax — adopting a progressive income tax in which only those making more than $250,000 would see their taxes rise, while 97 percent of Illinois taxpayers pay less — “a third way … lowering taxes on the middle class and those who are striving to get there, and asking the wealthiest people in the state to pay a little bit more.”

The Fair Tax Amendment referendum is especially complicated, as it’s ratified if it gets a 60 percent supermajority or earns a simple 50 percent majority on all ballots. If more than half of all ballots don’t affirm the Fair Tax Amendment, that means it will have to achieve the higher supermajority to be ratified.

After the state reported three straight days of record COVID-19 infections, peaking with 7,899 newly confirmed cases on Saturday, new cases dropped only slightly to 6,980 Sunday and 6,222 Monday, when 20 new deaths attributed to the coronavirus took the state toll to 9,810. The statewide testing positivity rate climbed to 8.1 percent.

Pritzker and Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike confirmed that Region 2, west-central Illinois including Rock Island, Moline, Peoria, Galesburg, and Bloomington-Normal, had seen its positivity rate climb above 8 percent three days running, and would thus face renewed restrictions including a ban on indoor service at bars and restaurants effective Wednesday — when the entire state will have moved back from Phase 4 in the plan to Restore Illinois with additional restrictions on indoor dining.

“Every region is going in the wrong direction,” Pritzer said. But he said he hoped that the restrictions would deter the spread of the coronavirus and enable mitigation to be eased, as was the case in September and October in Metro East and Will and Kankakee counties, and he urged all Illinoisans to wear a mask. He repeated that he is not considering a new statewide stay-at-home order.

One Illinois will only be passing along returns from official state and local election sites and reputable news outlets election night.