2026 Elections False Claims Tracker

Our team of analysts keeps you up-to-date on the false claims and phony news sites that are emerging ahead of the November U.S. elections, which will determine which political party will control Congress. Key state governorships are also up for grabs.

By Sam Howard, Chiara Vercellone, Isis Blachez, Ines Chomnalez, Zack Fishman, Charlene Lin, Isobel McClure, Juliette Schofield, and Julia Senzon | Last updated Oct. 5, 2026

Tracking 20 false claims across 210 websites and accounts

As of Oct. 5, 2026, NewsGuard had identified and debunked 20 false claims about the midterms that have gone viral on social media platforms.

Tracking each claim instance by instance, our analysts have confirmed 291 individual appearances of these claims online across 11 platforms, more than 158 distinct social accounts, 52 websites, and 23 segments on national cable news.

Eleven of the 20 claims centered on supposed election fraud, a particularly pernicious category of false narratives since such claims could undermine confidence in the results of the elections and in democracy itself.

The false claims are particularly prevalent on Elon Musk’s X, which accounted for more than half of all confirmed instances — 53 percent. Ten of the 20 claims originated from an X post before spreading on X and, in some cases, other platforms and websites.

A sampling of recent false claims debunked by NewsGuard:

NewsGuard found no credible reports of any ex-Dominion whistleblower advancing this claim, or that Dominion illicitly paid politicians to ensure its machines were used in the midterms. The company, now named Liberty Vote, says on its website that its machines are used in 37 states.

NewsGuard reviewed video of El-Sayed’s speech and found that he did not call for the U.S. legal system to implement Sharia law.

NewsGuard found that El-Sayed used the word “Sharia” three times during the speech. In all three instances, he criticized an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution approved by voters in a November 2010 referendum that, according to the proposed text, would have required that judges “shall not consider international law or Sharia Law.”

El-Sayed did not mention Sharia law at any other point in his 2022 speech unrelated to the Oklahoma amendment, nor did he say that the U.S. should implement Sharia law. In a review of credible news coverage, NewsGuard did not find any indications that he called for the U.S. to implement Sharia law.

An image of a roadside billboard allegedly promoting Paxton’s Senate campaign, and stating “Pedos Ain’t That Bad,” is fabricated. Through a reverse image search, NewsGuard determined that the image was an edited version of an authentic image of a billboard that was first published as satire on Facebook in June 2026. However, many social media accounts subsequently sharing the image did not note its satirical origins.

The image is AI-generated, according to NewsGuard’s analysis and AI-detection tool Hive. Multiple details in the image –- including distorted faces in the background and an “Ilhan for Congress” pin that does not match Omar’s authentic campaign pins — indicate it is not an authentic photograph. Hive gave the image a 99.9 percent likelihood of being AI-generated.

Sand’s campaign said in a Sept. 9, 2026, email to NewsGuard, “The image you are referencing is AI-generated and not a real image of Rob Sand.”

Voter registration data obtained by NewsGuard shows that 31 voters registered at the address of the UPS store in question actually live in apartments above the store and do not use P.O. boxes as their residential addresses.

Using Google Street View, NewsGuard found that the UPS store shares a San Diego address with the Kensington Commons apartment complex at 4142 Adams Ave. The apartments are located right above the UPS store.

Data Intelligence, California’s largest voter data aggregator, sent NewsGuard a list of 31 voters registered at the street address as of Feb. 10, 2026. All of the voters had a three-digit number after their street address starting with 2 or 3 — indicating their apartments on the building’s second or third floors.

NewsGuard’s breakdown of midterm-related false claims targeting elections in specific states, last updated on Oct. 5, 2026.

For more: Subscribe to our Media Intelligence Dashboard to access continuous data on all election-related false narratives tracked and debunked by NewsGuard.

Pink Slime Update: 1,180 and Counting

Consider the source: NewsGuard has identified 21 partisan sites that have launched this year masquerading as independent local news — bringing the total number of such sites to 1,180. Dubbed “pink slime” after the pink-colored liquefied filler used as an additive in meat, these sites pose as professional news outlets yet are secretly backed by partisan groups.

In a recent report, NewsGuard revealed the financing behind two pink slime networks — the new One Nation network on the right, and the expanded American Independent network on the left. Through the first eight months of 2026, the two networks collectively spent at least $801,500 on advertising to push their articles into your Facebook and Instagram feeds.

As the Nov. 3, 2026, election nears, NewsGuard will continue to report on the impact and development of pink slime sites, so check back here often.

And please help us by sending tips to [email protected]. If you think your favorite candidate on either side of the aisle is being targeted by phony pink slime sites, let us know!

Fact Check and Get Source Ratings with NewsGuard AI:

Subscribers to NewsGuard AI can tap into our database of debunks and credible news ratings to do their own fact-checking and make sense of the latest political news. Try NewsGuardAI here.