BuzzFeed News is tracking and debunking the dubious rumors, memes, and misinformation that will emerge on Election Day. We'll also highlight great debunkings from journalists at other outlets in order to help you separate true from false.
If you see something circulating online that we should look into, please get in touch. If you're a journalist who's debunked something false, send us the link so we can highlight your work.
Updates
A hoax claiming Lil Wayne voted for Trump is going viral on Facebook.
It looks as though the biggest fake news hit of election day goes to the folks at TMZHipHop.com. (No relation to the real TMZ.) Their hoax about Lil Wayne voting for Trump has generated over 17,000 shares, reactions, and comments on Facebook.
This tweet from a fake journalist's account is going viral.
The above tweet from "Simon Rowntree" alleges that a racist chant was heard at a Trump rally in New York. But here's the thing to know: this is a fake account that constantly puts out messages like this.
Rowntree's usual tactic is to invent offensive chants being made by rowdy football fans, as he claims to be a professional football journalist. BuzzFeed News previously reported on Rowntree and the other fake football journalist accounts on Twitter.
Here's a sample of previous Rowntree tweets.
He's not a journalist, he's not in New York, and Trump supporters did not do that racist chant.
So... this is one of the stranger fake things from today. Ready? Take a look at this headline:
First things first: this is a fake news website. For example, they already reported that CNN called Florida for Trump. As of right now the candidates are basically tied and no one has called Florida.
Their fake story claims that Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson went to a polling station to vote and "and saw a roomful of illegals waiting to vote." The story then claims he posted about what he saw on Facebook, and that Robertson gave a quote to the Associated Press.
To drive home the fake story, they even created a fake Facebook post:
But the post is nowhere to be found on Robertson's actual Facebook page.
Again: this is a completely fake story.
Poll workers in Nevada did not wear “Defeat Trump” shirts on election day.
Twitter users and right wing blogs are using a screencap from CNN to suggest that poll workers in Nevada wore "Defeat Trump" shirts while performing their duties. We have a debunking that explains why this is false.
These photos do not show “illegals” being arrested at polling stations
Fake news sites and trolls on Twitter have been spreading false claims that Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been arresting undocumented immigrants for trying to vote illegally. We've got a rundown of the misleading images to watch out for.
This Rudy Giuliani account people are retweeting is fake
A fake CNN Twitter account is fooling people with a tweet claiming to show incredibly lopsided exit poll numbers in Florida.
The fake account does not have a verified check mark from Twitter. This is what the real CNN Politics Twitter account looks like.
Reports are circulating that machines owned by billionaire George Soros were somehow rigged against Trump, and that voters should avoid using them. These reports are false for several reasons
The reports told voters to look for the world "Smartmatic" on machines, and ask to use a paper ballot rather than voting on the those machines. However, as BuzzFeed News has already reported, this is completely incorrect.
A statement on the Smartmatic web site states that their technology will not be used in any U.S. county during the 2016 US presidential elections, Soros has no ownership stake, and that the company has "no ties to political parties or groups in any country."
Donald Trump tweeted false information about voting machine issues. A county in Utah — not the entire country — is experiencing problems with many of its voting machines.
BuzzFeed News reporter Joe Bernstein is watching the discussion threads on noted troll message boards 4chan and 8chan. He's spotted two plans being hatched to spread false information. This one involves hoaxing Spanish-language media:
HOAX: 8chan is encouraging Spanish speakers to call into Spanish-language radio to report ICE agents at polling pla⦠https://t.co/Mk9Cwxcnce
And this one is aimed at fooling people into thinking a non-scientific online poll reflects actual voter intentions:
trumpists on 4chan and 8chan are citing this dutch just-for-fun project as proof that trump is winning the american⦠https://t.co/qKjhe1a8Yj
This meme with a Janet Reno quote about Donald Trump is starting to spread. It's a fake quote.
The meme appears to have first appeared on the Occupy Democrats Logic Facebook page just after midnight on election day. That page mocks the left-leaning Occupy Democrats Facebook page.
There is zero record of former Attorney General Janet Reno saying anything about a Donald Trump presidency. This is a meme meant to troll Reno, who died yesterday.
People are now tweeting the quote and other memes with it, trying to help it get traction on election day.
Janet Reno said Trump will never be president in her life time. She was right because she died yesterday. The truth⦠https://t.co/59sDQ6Ngog
This writer for conspiracy site InfoWars is also trying to get it to spread.
#ElectionDay @RealAlexJones Too soon? I don't think so.
Snopes has debunked a fake news site's report that Ivanka Trump yesterday disavowed her father and his campaign.
The site that published the story, The Good Lord Above, is filled with false articles. But it also has a Facebook page with more than 3 million fans, which means it can help fake things to spread.
A news story claiming to show an election prediction based on Facebook data is false.
The fake news website Jookos recently published a hoax claiming that "Facebook analytics reveal a clean sweep for Donald Trump in this election." The post is now being shared again on Election Day by people who think it's a credible indication of what will happen today. (The hoax was even copied by other politics websites, which published it as real news. Many people are sharing that link, rather than the original.)
The story included a map of the US with all but a few states colored red to indicate a Donald Trump win. This is all supposedly because Trump gets more "positive posts" than Hillary Clinton on Facebook. The data and map are completely false.
7 Must-Reads About Fake Election News And How It Spreads
Get ready for Election Day by reading up on how fake election news and claims have spread so far.