Early voting is underway, and reports are arriving already that raise suspicions. A Tennessee voter says she tried to vote for the Democratic candidate on her ballot, but the machine kept returning to the Republican candidate. A viral post out of Texas describes a selection switching from Democrat Jon Rosenthal to Republican Bo French. In Florida, some voters have reported problems with the touch screen on ExpressVote machines.

None of this is evidence of cheating. No official has found tampering. The most common explanation is a touchscreen that registers a touch slightly off target. Maryland officials once said voters with large fingers, long nails, or a palm resting on the screen report this more often. That explanation may not cover every case, and a machine that misrecords a vote is a failure even if no one planned it. But a failure is not a crime, and a rumor is not a finding.

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The reports found so far in this cycle lean in one direction. Past cycles leaned in every direction. In 2014, Maryland Republicans reported Republican votes being changed to Democrat. In Texas in 2018, voters complained that machines flipped their straight-ticket selections to the other party, most visibly in the Cruz and O’Rourke race. In 2024, a Tarrant County voter said a machine switched his presidential vote, and the county elections administrator said he checked the ballot and realized that was not the vote they wanted, so it was spoiled and he voted again.

Both parties have told the same story about the same kind of machine. Both have been given the same answer by officials: review your ballot.

A pattern in the rumors is not a pattern in the machines. The claim that one party is being robbed needs evidence.

But so does the claim that nothing is wrong.

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Run this test through your mind.

Take the report and reverse it. A Republican selects his candidate and the machine gives him a Democrat. He posts the screen claiming cheating. It is shared a million times by morning. What does the loudest voice in the movement say? What does Trump say? What does Congress demand before it will seat a single Democrat who wins on those machines? Audits, subpoenas, hearings, a pause on certification?

Now run it forward. The flips continue, the Republican wins anyway, and the reports are on the record. Do his allies stop to ask whether something went wrong, or do they take the seat and move on?

You already know the answer.

Now ask the same of your own side. A standard that only binds the other party is not a standard. It is a grievance.

Demand an audit if the machine fails Republicans. Demand it if the machine fails Democrats. Demand it if you win.The party that wants the paper checked only when it loses was never defending the vote.

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The practical advice is mechanical, and it works for anyone.

Select slowly.

Use the stylus if the screen is stubborn.

Read the review screen before you submit, then read the printed ballot before it goes into the scanner.

If a name is wrong, tell the poll worker and ask to spoil the ballot and start over. Ask for another machine or a paper ballot.

Report the problem to the election office, then post about it if you like. A screenshot is not evidence. A complaint on the record is.

The cheater’s best asset is a voter who does not care enough to check. The rumor-monger’s best asset is a voter who checks nothing and shares everything. Beat both the same way.

No machine should decide this election.

Those last ten seconds of review in the booth just might.