Idaho Secretary of State encourages voters to be vigilant of election misinformation

BOISE — Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney launched a new web portal today, providing Idahoans with a means to report election based misinformation.

The site encourages Idaho voters to be aware of election misinformation, and to report anything on social media that appears inaccurate or misleading. Examples would include dates of the election, mail ballot rules, ballot information, polling place hours, election night reporting, voting technology and poll watchers.

“Idahoans are paying close attention to the November 8 General Election, but so are those seeking to interfere with our elections by spreading misinformation,” Denney said. “With this new web service, Idaho voters can report social media posts that appear to be misleading, either accidentally or by intent.”

“Once misinformation has been reported, our cyber security team will evaluate the information,” Denny said. “If it is determined that the social media post is trying to disenfranchise voters and undermine our democracy, the report will be passed to the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center, who will verify the information and forward it to the Department of Homeland Security for further action.”

Intelligence officials are unanimous in warnings of foreign and domestic actors spreading misinformation ahead of the Nov. 8 General Election. This new web service was created to provide Idaho voters with a single, nonpartisan location to report social media posts that seek to destroy the integrity of Idaho elections.

Lawerence Denney has served the people of Idaho since 1990. His public service began as a representative in District 13 and, following redistricting, he became a representative in District 9 until 2014. During that time, Denney served two terms as Majority Leader and three terms as Speaker of the House before successfully running for state office. He is currently in his second term as Idaho’s Secretary of State.