Election Watch – Pencils, Ballot Boxes, and Poll Workers

Election Watch by Digital Public Square is a series of reports based on our ongoing monitoring of online narratives promoting extremism, violence, and polarization relating to the Canadian federal election.

This post was made in collaboration with Revontulet.

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What’s the narrative?

“Poll workers are stealing the election.” These narratives allege that some election workers conspired to alter ballots and rig the vote in the recent Canadian federal election. They contend that Elections Canada—the non-partisan agency that runs federal elections—worked to ensure that the Liberal Party won the election. The narratives began during the advance voting period and have continued to spread in the aftermath of the election. 

During the advance voting period, one prominent misinformation narrative contended that voting booths were supplied with pencils—rather than pens or markers—so that vote counters could erase and alter ballots. Promoters of this narrative often claimed that they always used pens or markers in previous elections, and that this was the first time they were given a pencil. In one video widely circulated on social media, a voter confronts an election worker to demand a pen instead of a pencil. 

Elections Canada and media organizations fact checked the misinformation surrounding pencils and clarified that voters were welcome to bring their own pencils or pens. According to Canadian law, poll workers must provide pencils to voters; pencils are used because they do not dry up and do not risk ink blotting, which can spoil a ballot.

In the aftermath of the election, another viral video that reached millions of social media users purported to show Elections Canada workers “stealing” ballot boxes and loading them into their personal vehicles. This incident was debunked by Elections Canada and the Digital Forensic Research Lab.

Finally, recounts of tight races resulting in the Liberal Party winning additional seats after Election Day prompted conspiratorial discourse on some social media spaces. In particular, the Liberal Party winning the Terrebonne riding by a single vote—while a voter supporting the Bloc Quebecois was unable to cast her vote due to a mailing address error—prompted the proliferation of misinformation. In another case, over 800 special ballots in a BC riding were mistakenly kept at a returning officer’s office, which similarly spurred misinformation. Generally, misinformation surrounding these incidents stated that Elections Canada was interfering in the voting process to ensure the Liberal Party won the ridings.

Digital Public Square and Revontulet noted one case of a poll worker attempting to influence votes during the election. In this incident, Elections Canada removed a poll worker who was allegedly trying to convince voters to support the Conservative Party.

Who’s promoting the narrative?

According to our social media monitoring, the pencil misinformation narrative appears to have gained momentum after right-wing content creators posted shortform videos about it during the advance voting period. Users across different social media platforms engaged and amplified the narrative as they expressed anxieties that their support for the Conservative Party would be erased. The narrative gained enough traction that it reached more mainstream audiences, prompting media reporting on the issue.

In comparison, active engagement with the “stolen ballot box” appeared to be limited to more right-wing social media spaces. The ballot box narrative spread after a video about it was posted by a YouTube channel that creates right-wing news analysis videos, which often feature misleading or conspiratorial content about Canadian politics. It was shared by numerous influential social media accounts—both Canadian and international—with a track record of sharing misinformation, such as a widely followed Telegram channel that frequently posts misinformation about Canadian and international politics. While posts promoting this narrative prompted a level of outrage among audiences, it did not appear to “stick” or lead to repeated debate over time.

Similarly, the Terrebonne riding misinformation initially appeared to be limited to right-wing social media spaces (especially those found on X and Telegram). However, the Terrebonne election continues to be examined and discussed as part of the news cycle, which has led misinformation surrounding the event to continue to circulate and reach broader audiences, such as in comment sections of news articles.

Why’s it important?

Election denialism misinformation about poll workers stealing the election poses significant risks to Canadian democracy.

Canadians with low trust in government institutions may be particularly vulnerable to election denialism narratives. What most of these narratives have in common is the idea that the Liberal Party, as the incumbent government, has direct control over non-partisan agencies like Elections Canada and is willing to use them to achieve their objectives. This perspective reflects polarization and cynicism about democratic institutions.

Further, in a polarized political environment, supporters of parties that lose elections may be more likely to believe election denialism narratives. Aggrieved supporters of losing parties may believe that the election was stolen by their perceived enemies, and that they face an imminent threat of being silenced and marginalized. 

Opportunistic actors on social media often try to take advantage of feelings of victimization to stoke outrage and indignation. By expressing a need for solidarity against an imminent threat, these actors can mobilize their audiences to further their following and influence.

The relative inability of election conspiracy and denialism narratives to enter mainstream discourse and lead to real-life actions suggests that Canadian society is not polarized enough for them to take hold. However, a recent survey by Leger found that 13 per cent of Canadians do not trust the election results “at all”, while just under two-thirds fully trust the results. 

These survey results show that a small but significant segment of the population feel extreme distrust of the electoral system and Canadian democracy. They also demonstrate that overall confidence in Canada’s electoral system is soft, which suggests that Canadians could become more vulnerable to election denialism discourse if trust in institutions continues to erode.

A post-election fundraising email from the Conservative Party said that the Liberal Party was trying to “tip the scales” and win more seats. Political actors should avoid using language such as this as it risks mainstreaming election denialist misinformation.

Ensuring that election denialism does not grow in future elections requires investments in democracy and a commitment from all levels of government to build trust with Canadian citizens. Ensuring that the Terrebonne election process and result is communicated to the public with as much transparency as possible would be an effective place to start.

Digital Public Square does not include links to or screenshots of content promoting extremism, violence, and polarization so that it is not amplified.