As early voting begins in the 2026 midterm elections, social media users are claiming that if a poll worker marks a ballot it will be disqualified.
Posts making the claim have spread on multiple platforms, often with the same text. “A very reliable good friend of mine just finished the pollworker training, and she texted to this to me,” they begin. They then go on to advise: “When you are checking in at the polls and they happen to write anything on your ballot before they give it to you to put in the voting machine...a letter, a checkmark, a letter star, an R or a D any writing of any kind."
