Election Claims Checklist for Political Journalism

Write a preapproved setup line that names the claim, the jurisdiction, and that your coverage relies on court rulings and official records. This prevents false equivalence and sets the expectation for sourcing live.

Collect court rulings, state and county certification documents, audit results, and official statements. Keep documents in a shared folder with filenames that include date, jurisdiction, and document type for quick on-air retrieval.

Require date, jurisdiction, affidavit or exhibit numbers, named witnesses, and chain-of-evidence details. These prompts keep the segment focused and create a clear record if the guest cannot produce evidence.

List docket numbers, judges, dispositions, and links to opinions for the relevant state or county. Producers can paste accurate outcomes to chyrons and anchors can cite rulings precisely.

Require producer approval for words like fraud or stolen, and include context such as court outcome or audit status in the graphic. This avoids amplifying an unverified claim on screen.

Create a host script for immediate redirect to evidence, and preapprove a graphic that shows verification status. This reduces the risk of airing unsupported assertions and shows your standard in action.

Use PACER or state e-filing portals to retrieve complaints, orders, and final judgments. Record outcomes, judges, and dates in a tracking sheet so every reference has a primary document behind it.

Download county canvass reports and state certification certificates, and reconcile totals with wire feeds and official PDFs. Certification dates often debunk claims about unfinalized results.

Check whether audits were conducted, sample sizes, and error rates. Compare audited results with official tallies to assess claims about machine tabulation errors.

Identify the vendor and specific equipment used in the cited precincts, and review state certification and logic and accuracy test results. Many rigging claims conflate systems across jurisdictions.

Ask county clerks for intake logs, transfer forms, and scanner batch reports. Match timestamps to processing scans to evaluate claims about unsecured handling or late dumps.

Cross-check samples against voter roll maintenance policies, NVRA timelines, and publicly available obituaries or vital records where permitted. Document any data matching caveats to avoid false positives.

Call both county election administrators and the state office for on-record confirmations, and secure a document to back each statement. This prevents reliance on a single office during a fast news cycle.

List precinct results, audit files, EAVS tables, and the exact download dates and versions. Readers and producers can replicate checks and understand scope.

Tag stories with categories such as voter fraud, voting machines, mail ballots, certification, and litigation. Consistent tags enable timelines and source trees across coverage.

Store CSVs and code in a private repository and record every correction and rerun. Link notable changes in the story footer to maintain trust.

Save PDFs, screenshots, and Wayback URLs for rulings, press releases, and vendor docs. Timestamp b-roll assets to match on-air references.

Explain your cutoff rules, confounders, and why an outlier does not imply fraud by itself. This prevents over-claiming based on statistics.

Define terms like risk-limiting audit, provisional ballot, and canvass, and link to the page on first use. This improves accessibility without weakening precision.

Preclear language for defamation, incitement, and fair report privilege. Attribute facts to official documents and rulings with accurate verbs and context.

Avoid categorical language that suggests omniscience. Use precise phrasing that reflects the scope of evidence and court outcomes in the jurisdiction and time frame.

Remove home addresses, voter IDs, and signatures from affidavits and poll book images unless essential and consented. Keep an audit trail of redactions.

Avoid unnecessary naming of nonpublic workers and blur faces in b-roll from counting centers. Add context about their legal duties to reduce misinterpretation.

Segment source contact info from publishable files and use encrypted messaging for transfers. Log who has access to protect both sources and newsroom.

Timestamp updates, annotate what changed, and post follow-ups to social platforms with direct links to the corrected item. This sustains credibility when data evolves.

Have a second staffer verify figures in charts and lower-thirds against certifications or audited totals. Sign off in a tracking sheet before air or publish.

Include jurisdiction and year, and add a short clause citing audit status or court outcome. Avoid repeating the claim without immediate on-screen verification status.

Link directly to rulings, certifications, and audits referenced in the segment. This aids audience trust and lets other journalists verify quickly.

Use consistent language templates that label an item as allegation, claim under review, or false per court record. Include an image of the primary document when possible.

Add internal links by state, county, vendor, and claim type, and include structured data for FAQs so search surfaces your explainer. This meets audience intent for how and why answers.

Publish a short piece when certification occurs and update embeds and charts. Revisit any earlier hedging and close the loop for readers and viewers.

Use a modular graphic that explains acceptance, curing, and counting timelines in your state whenever claims cite counting pauses or ballot dumps. This preempts confusion and reduces airtime on misinformation.