# Midterm Cheating Watch **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [October 20, 2026, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989 "2026-10-20T01:49:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/21 "2026-10-21T23:30:09Z")
This seems like cheating, saying “vote for me or you don’t get your settlement”: > **[Trump ties NC Camp Lejeune settlements to GOP win, angering survivors • NC...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-ties-nc-camp-lejeune-211318867.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall)** > > This isn’t the first time Trump has tied the resolution of outstanding claims to the outcome of the upcoming midterm elections. He also tied outstanding Helene aid to a Republican win at a recent event in Gastonia, North Carolina, although he later... ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/22 "2026-10-21T23:49:59Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > This seems like cheating, saying “vote for me or you don’t get your settlement”: It definitely is cheating. It also is a promise to pervert the course of justice. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/23 "2026-10-22T00:05:41Z")
Yet another impeachable offense. He’s up to several per day now. Shame about the do-nothing R-controlled Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/24 "2026-10-22T12:52:10Z")
Maryland uses a separate software company to audit the ballots immediately after the election and then performs human audits later on. If a voting machine is flipping results here, it will be caught. Republicans routinely ignore the existence of audits because they upset their narratives. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/25 "2026-10-22T22:12:19Z")
It is hard at the moment to say who this favored, but it was midterm cheating: [Politico: How a fake pollster may have moved some 2026 elections](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/22/how-a-fake-pollster-may-have-moved-some-2026-elections-01131675) > [@](#): > > Wedgewood Polls, facing an [imminent publication of an investigation from FiftyPlusOne](https://blog.fiftyplusone.news/p/fiftyplusone-just-caught-a-pollster) showing it was fabricating its numbers, [declared late Tuesday night](https://x.com/WedgewoodPolls/status/2112669955917242510/photo/1) that it had been an “experimental project” to show how an “entirely fabricated polling firm” could sway public opinion while painting themselves as the good guys. They’d left an impact and been included by multiple credible polling aggregators including The New York Times — and mentioned twice in POLITICO’s Morning Score polling roundup. . . . > > Mallory McMorrow, the unsuccessful Michigan Democratic Senate candidate who dropped out before her primary, [said a fake Wedgewood poll](https://x.com/MalloryMcMorrow/status/2112710136921784323?s=20) that [showed her crashing to single-digit support](https://x.com/WedgewoodPolls/status/2071382419861836106?s=20) against Abdul El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens “dried up” donations, “devastated” volunteers and led to numerous calls to exit the race. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/26 "2026-10-23T14:15:53Z")
Donald Trump posting regarding Ilhan Omar on [Truth Social last night](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/117488067224261864): > [@](#): > > Therefore, because she used a fake name to be sworn in, I assume she must IMMEDIATELY resign from Congress. Please inform the Speaker of the House of Representatives, James Michael Johnson, that the Dumocrat Party has just conceded her seat. I think use of the name James Michael Johnson is unfriendly. Johnson insists he likes Trump, but it may not go the other way around. If the House refuses to seat enough Democrats, next January, so as to keep GOP control, I’m sure it will be back to Mike Johnson. P.S. They are sworn in as a group, so there is no name spoken. This started being done, [according to some historical accounts, to avoid a potential attempt to challenge the seating of Oscar De Priest of Illinois, the first African American elected to Congress in the 20th century.](https://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Oath-of-Office/) Some would say this means Trump is an idiot, but I’d say it is just part of the cheating. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/27 "2026-10-23T17:36:33Z")
Oh, here we go. Gift link: [Justice Dept Moves to Block Certification of Alaska Senate Result if Republican Loses](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/10/23/us/midterm-elections-trump?unlocked_article_code=1.K1E.urPD.J_xeb8VyixK2&smid=url-share) From the article: > The Justice Department, in a court filing, argued that confusion over another candidate on the ballot with a name very similar to the incumbent, Senator Dan S. Sullivan, could taint the result in a close election. I expect this is just the beginning of this bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/28 "2026-10-23T17:47:38Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Dan S. Sullivan, Best part is, they’re BOTH REPUBLICANS!!!121111one!!!111 \*\* the ‘challenger’ had to change from Republican to unaffilliated in order to appear on the ballot. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/29 "2026-10-23T17:52:06Z")
Oh, wow, I hadn’t caught that part. I’m not following this race closely. Thanks for the clarification! ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/30 "2026-10-23T17:53:26Z")
Snopes debunks claims of voting machines switching D to R > **[Voting machines aren't deliberately switching votes. Here's what's likely...](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/voting-machines-switching-votes-midterms/)** > > Stella Parton amplified the rumor claiming voting machines in Tennessee, Texas and other states were swapping votes for Democrats to Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/31 "2026-10-23T19:58:11Z")
> [@chela](#): > > Snopes debunks claims of voting machines switching D to R But it is apparently way too easy to accidentally do, which is a problem. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/32 "2026-10-23T21:28:56Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Best part is, they’re BOTH REPUBLICANS!!!121111one!!!111 > \*\* the ‘challenger’ had to change from Republican to unaffilliated in order to appear on the ballot. I just looked at the long-shot’s web site and see no reason to suspect he is insincere in running: [Daniel J. Sullivan for Senate](https://www.sullivanforsenate.com/) Web search shows there is a $100 filing fee he had to pay. There is no signature requirement. It isn’t his fault that he is one of the three Republicans who advanced to the rank choice voting general election. Also see: [Petersburg’s Dan J. Sullivan will be on the ballot for U.S. Senate. What are his policies?](https://www.kfsk.org/2026/07/30/petersburgs-dan-j-sullivan-will-be-on-the-ballot-for-u-s-senate-what-are-his-policies/) > [@](#): > > His father and grandfather were lifelong Republicans, and he said he draws on the values he grew up with in his household. > > “It was business-oriented, and keep taxes low and support law and order; those traditional beliefs that most people come away with,” he said. “But it was also compassionate.” . . . > > “Tariffs are a tool if you use them precisely, with some real specific intended goals,” he said. “It seems like we went in with a hammer and just started smashing things.” So Daniel J. Sullivan is a legitimate traditional Republican, unlike the Trumpy, and unfortunately more popular, Daniel S. Sullivan. And because of ranked choice voting, it will be impossible (or nearly impossible – I’m not quite sure) for Mary Peltola to win without majority support.The administration is using his presence on the ballot as an excuse for cheating. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/33 "2026-10-23T21:36:12Z")
Another Trump created constitutional crisis. The courts had better thoroughly stomp this, with haste. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/34 "2026-10-23T22:30:32Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > I think use of the name James Michael Johnson is unfriendly. Well, since “Mike Johnson” used a fake name to be sworn in, I guess he has to resign too. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/35 "2026-10-23T22:36:37Z")
Re last post, unfortunately, as with the member swearing in, the pronoun “you” was used for Speaker Johnson rather than the representative’s name: [Swearing in of Speaker Johnson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0FQdDkhg3U) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/36 "2026-10-23T22:54:58Z")
I’m just saying, if “uses a different name than one they used at some other point in their life” is grounds for removal, then Vice President James Bowman, Senator Rafael Cruz, and Governor Sarah Sanders should probably start updating their resumes. Sen. Addison McConnell is fine since he’s retiring anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/37 "2026-10-24T12:00:49Z")
Alaskans didn’t seem confused in the primary where Incumbent Dan received 17 times as many votes as did Spoiler Dan. And Peltola got 10,000 more votes than the two Dans combined. The RCV system isn’t helping the DOJ’s case, either. If you’re confused by the names, vote for one as your first choice and the other as your second. The right one will ultimately wind up with your vote. Alaska has the best election system in the nation. Republicans just don’t understand basic stuff. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/38 "2026-10-24T13:31:11Z")
This isn’t cheating, but lack of readiness and administrative screw-ups could accomplish the same thing. > **[Problems hit early voting in Bexar](https://eedition.expressnews.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=b3a56ea5-2783-4216-bfc9-ad5ab6de5f70&share=true)** > > Problems hit early voting in Bexar I can’t seem to copy the text, but the highlights are as follows from the article. > Four days into early voting, malfunctioning equipment and missing voter registrations were worsening already long wait times at some Bexar county polling sites. … > On Monday, Bexar county voters turned out in record numbers, resulting in the highest first day early voting turnout for a non-presidential election in Bexar county history. Nearly 43,000 people cast ballots on monday, 32% more than on the first day in the 2022 midterms. Wait times were as long as 6 hours until extra machines were brought in and reduced that wait time to 1 hour. I have a feeling a similar scene is going to be repeated all over the country. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/39 "2026-10-24T14:00:15Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > Republicans just don’t understand basic stuff. When it suits them. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989/40 "2026-10-24T20:39:02Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > Alaska has the best election system in the nation. Republicans just don’t understand basic stuff. In 2020, the lead changed in a few states as votes were counted. Republican misinformation turned that into a conspiracy theory and a riot in the capital. I worry about what they could do with something more complicated like RCV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midterm-cheating-watch/1033989.md?page=3)