We find that, relative to states with restrictions, states that allowed ballots to be processed in advance of the election were subjected to fewer misinformation stories.
On the wire
The following items are drawn directly from the research seed for this topic. Headlines and excerpts below reflect source material; no additional facts have been invented.
1. Election Policies and the Amplification of Misinformation
We find that, relative to states with restrictions, states that allowed ballots to be processed in advance of the election were subjected to fewer misinformation stories.
Legislating Uncertainty: Election Policies and the Amplification of Misinformation
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Can state election policies affect the spread of misinformation?
This paper studies the role played by ballot processing policies, which determine when ballots can be examined and organized, in the online spread of political misinformation.
We present evidence from the 2020 U.S. presidential election cycle linking the spread of misinformation in the aftermath of the election to the uncertainty created by these restrictions.
2. Full article: Disrupting democracy: how informational pathways and ...
Our findings underscore the potential of mainstream media use to strengthen electoral trust, with consistently positive associations among voters – highlighting the contribution of professional journalism to democratic resilience.
Full article: Disrupting democracy: how informational pathways and misinformation shape trust in election results
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Disrupting democracy: how informational pathways and misinformation shape trust in election results
Recent electoral cycles have renewed concerns around democratic backsliding as political elites systematically use misinformation and disinformation to undermine electoral integrity.
Focusing on the 2022 Presidential Elections in Brazil,
3. Elections | HKS Misinformation Review
Over six weeks, 90 active participants surfaced 592 potentially misinforming posts and provided over 3,000 assessments across multiple platforms and recurring narratives.
Monitoring misinformation, building discernment: A crowdsourcing study during the 2025 Australian federal election
Ariel Kruger, Piers Howe and Morgan Saletta
We conducted a design evaluation exploring whether a structured crowdsourcing system using trained volunteers could monitor and categorize election-related misinformation during the 2025 Australian federal election campaign.
4. Fake news in elections: leveraging large language models ...
Findings show a strong research focus on misinformation during elections since 2016, with Brazil, Spain and the United States as leading contributors, and Twitter® and Facebook® as the most frequently studied platforms.
This paper examines the delicate balance between fake news and freedom of speech by analyzing academic research at the intersection of “fake news” and “election.”
Using 568 publications from the Web of Science database, the research applies data analytics and natural language processing (NLP) methods to uncover geographical patterns, thematic trends and sentiment in the scholarly discourse.
Named Entity Recognition identifies the most studied countries and platforms, while to
5. Matter of Misunderstanding? Explaining (Mis)Perceptions of ...
Using data from a survey conducted in 25 countries across the world, we find that trust in information from traditional media decreases misperceptions, while trust in information from social media increases misperceptions.
Public Opinion Quarterly, Volume 88, Issue SI, 2024, Pages 495–515, https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfae021
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In this paper, we investigate how trust in traditional and social media correlate with misperceptions of electoral integrity.
Relying on insights from political communication research on exposure to misinformation and selective exposure mechanisms, as well as insights on the different roles of traditional and social media in different regime
6. academic.oup.com › poq › advance-article(Mis)information, Polarization, and Trust in Elections ...
We find evidence that rising affective polarization, right-wing and social media consumption, and belief in US-based election fraud narratives are associated with significant trust declines in electoral integrity.
Mathieu Lavigne, Holly Ann Garnett, Aengus Bridgman, (Mis)information, Polarization, and Trust in Elections: Longitudinal Evidence from Canada, Public Opinion Quarterly, 2026;, nfag035, https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfag035
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Scholars have suggested that we are experiencing a global crisis in trust in elections, with political polarization and misinformation often cited as reasons for distrust.
However, empirical evaluations of perceptions of election integrity over time remain s