Days before Spain holds a pivotal election, misleading claims about mail ballots and election fraud are spreading on social media and casting doubts about the results even before the votes have been counted.
The allegations, amplified by supporters of the center-right Popular Party and the far-right Vox Party, bear striking similarities to the baseless claims spread by then-President Donald Trump ahead of his 2020 U.S. election defeat and offer a reminder that the distrust of elections that has marred U.S. politics has taken root in Europe, too.
Most polls favor the Popular Party, but it will likely need the support of the Vox to form a governing majority. “I ask the postmen in Spain to work to the maximum, morning, afternoon and night,” Feijóo said during a campaign rally in Murcia on Wednesday. “Regardless of your bosses, I urge you to distribute all the mail-in ballots on time.”
“Election fraud narratives that undermine trust in democratic processes – and which also dominated the regional elections in Spain – are spread across platforms,” concluded the researchers at Reset, who shared their findings with The Associated Press. Reset is based in London and studies the ways social media affects democracies around the globe.
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