October 25, 2008

False Report Takes in Blogs Leading to Online Election Rumor

A young woman reported a campaign related attack to police, which was later admitted by the accuser to be untrue. Several Web blogs, wrote about the incident, but did not verify facts with the police. Rumor-Mongering is one of several Internet deceptive campaign threats voters face for the November 4, 2008 election. Deceptive campaigns are attempts to misdirect voters regarding the voting process for public elections. Deceptive campaign activity can be false statements about polling times, date of the election, campaigns, or voter identification rules. The EPIC report reviews the potential for abuse of Internet technology in an election context, and makes recommendations on steps that could be taken by Election Protection, Election Administrators, and voters to protect the integrity of the upcoming election.

McCain Volunteer Invents Attack Hoax, The Nation, October 24, 2008