网传「工作人员在选票上写字选票就作废」 多州选举官员称标记属法定行政程序
随着2026年中期选举提前投票在美国多州陆续展开，一则在多个社交平台扩散的帖子声称，投票站工作人员只要在选票上写下任何字迹，包括字母、勾号、星号或代表党派的字母，这张选票就会被取消资格。帖子以一位朋友刚完成投票站培训并传来消息的说法开头，相同文本在不同平台反复出现。美联社事实核查栏目于10月15日就此发布核查，结论是这一说法不实。
据美联社报道，至少八个州的选举官员已公开回应这一说法。田纳西州务卿特雷·哈格特（Tre Hargett）在一份回应网传帖的声明中表示，在田纳西州，选票不会仅仅因为选举官员或投票站工作人员在上面作了行政标注就被取消资格，他称网上传播的说法不正确。田纳西州选举协调员马克·戈因斯（Mark Goins）表示，同样的说法在2022年和2024年选举期间也曾出现。田纳西州Davidson县和Montgomery县的选举办公室表示，已经接到选民就这一说法打来的询问电话。
伊利诺伊州选举委员会在社交平台X上发帖表示，伊利诺伊州法律要求选举法官在把选票发给选民之前在选票上签下姓名首字母，这是选举保障环节的一部分，不会使选票作废。库克县书记官莫妮卡·戈登（Monica Gordon）表示，已有选民向她询问网传帖子的说法，一名国会议员也曾联系她求证。威尔县书记官安妮特·帕克（Annette Parker）表示，选举法官的首字母用于选票日后被质疑或被抽中复核时进行识别。
北卡罗来纳州选举委员会在其网站上说明，选举工作人员依法在选票上书写有多种不同原因，这不会影响选票是否被计数。例如，多数县的工作人员会在选票左上角的方框内写上代表暂定选票或缺席选票的字母，以便选票若被误投入计票机而非封入信封时能够被识别。部分投票站工作人员还被要求在选票上写下选区名称，为选后分拣做准备；邮寄和提前投票选票上的编号则用于选票日后受到质疑时调取核对。
田纳西州方面经当地媒体报道，选民如果对工作人员在选票上写字有顾虑，可以要求更换一张选票重新填写；美国公民自由联盟田纳西分会表示，选民最多可要求三张替换选票。关注选举技术的非营利组织Verified Voting总裁兼首席执行官帕梅拉·史密斯（Pamela Smith）对美联社表示，选民应从本地选举官员处获取事实信息。事实核查机构Snopes在2020年和2024年选举周期中也曾核查过这一说法的旧版本。
美国2026年中期选举的选举日为11月3日，多个州的提前投票已经开始，田纳西州的提前投票于10月14日开始。（GSM 据美联社报道）
关联：美国选举制度（四）：中期选举：2026年11月3日改选什么
关联：FBI警示中期选举诈骗瞄准普通选民：假捐款、假政治行动委员会与假选民登记页窃取个人信息
关联：FBI与CISA联合警示：中期选举前选举与竞选官员成网络钓鱼与深度伪造目标
Viral Claim That Poll-Worker Marks Void Ballots Is False, Election Officials in Multiple States Say
As early voting for the 2026 U.S. midterm elections gets under way in state after state, a post spreading across multiple social media platforms claims that if a poll worker writes anything on a ballot — a letter, a check mark, a star, or a letter standing for a political party — the ballot will be disqualified. The posts open with a claim that a reliable friend who just finished poll-worker training sent the warning, and the same text has appeared repeatedly across platforms. The Associated Press published a fact check of the claim on October 15 and found it false.
According to the AP, election officials in at least eight states have publicly responded to the claim. Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett said in a statement responding to the viral post that in Tennessee a ballot is not disqualified simply because an election official or poll worker makes an administrative notation on it, and he called the circulating claim incorrect. Tennessee Elections Coordinator Mark Goins said the same claim also circulated during the 2022 and 2024 elections. Election offices in Davidson and Montgomery counties in Tennessee said they had received phone calls from voters asking about the claim.
The Illinois State Board of Elections posted on X that under Illinois law election judges must initial ballots before issuing them to voters, that the initials are a safeguard, and that they will not disqualify a ballot. Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon said voters had asked her about the posts and that a member of Congress had also contacted her to ask whether the claim was true. Will County Clerk Annette Parker said the initials help officials identify ballots if they are later challenged or selected for review.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections explains on its website that election workers write on ballots for different reasons as required by law and that this does not affect whether a ballot will be counted. In most counties, for example, workers write a letter in a box in the upper left corner marking a ballot as provisional or absentee, so it can be identified if it is put into a tabulator instead of sealed in an envelope as intended. Some poll workers are instructed to write precinct names on ballots in preparation for postelection sorting, and numbers placed on mail-in or early-voting ballots allow officials to retrieve them if they are challenged later.
In Tennessee, local media reported that a voter who is concerned about a worker writing on a ballot can request a new ballot and start over, and the ACLU of Tennessee said voters can request up to three replacement ballots. Pamela Smith, president and CEO of Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group focused on election technology, told the AP that voters should get their facts from their local election officials. The fact-checking organization Snopes also debunked earlier versions of the same claim during the 2020 and 2024 election cycles.
Election Day for the 2026 midterms is November 3. Early voting has begun in multiple states, including Tennessee, where it started on October 14. (GSM, via the Associated Press)
Related: America's Electoral System (4): The Midterms: What Is on the Ballot on November 3, 2026
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：明尼苏达州圣保罗一处投票站外景（资料图）。Lorie Shaull 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
