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Claim that Sharpie pens ruin ballots misses the mark, experts say
It is being called “Sharpie-Gate,” which is the latest conspiracy surrounding this week’s hotly contested election.
CHICAGO - It is being called “Sharpie-Gate,” which is the latest conspiracy surrounding this week’s hotly contested election.
But experts on voting say the theory has a fatal flaw: it’s simply not true. Election experts say do not believe what you see online.
Sharpie-Gate Is trending on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram by people who believe that voting machines cannot read Sharpie ink, or that the pens will bleed through to the other side, invalidating their vote.
“There’s absolutely nothing to this,” said renowned Chicago election attorney Burt Odelson.
Odelson demonstrated to FOX 32 what happens if you mark a ballot with a Sharpie and the ink soaks through.
“It does bleed through on Iris Martinez, but on her name and her number, not on the oval. So it has absolutely no impact on the machine,” he said.
“The target areas on the front are purposely not aligned with the target areas on the back,” said Jim Allen of the Chicago Board of Elections.
In fact, Sharpies are preferred because most voting machines scan their ink better than ballpoint pens.
“I can’t imagine a poll worker is instantly going to do some mind reading jujitsu and determine on the spot which kind of pen to hand to someone. It’s total hokum,” Allen said.