The Associated Press has published its fact-checking analysis regarding the republican President Donald Trump’s misleading claims about the 2018 US mid-term elections’ results.

Here’s the rest of the story…

On November 12, 2018, Hope Yen and Christopher Rugaber of AP penned the following report, “AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s rhetoric on voter fraud is misleading”

Excerpts:

“Facing closely contested election races in Florida and Arizona, President Donald Trump is spreading misleading rhetoric regarding voting fraud.”

“He says votes are suspiciously appearing “out of the wilderness” in Arizona after Election Day to boost the Democratic candidate in the Senate race. It’s actually typical for the state to take additional days after an election to finish tabulating mail-in votes.”

“Trump also suggests that heavily Democratic counties in Florida may be improperly seeking to inflate the Democratic vote in the state’s Senate and governor races. There’s no evidence of that. The Florida state agencies charged with investigating potential fraud say no credible allegations exist.”

FLORIDA ELECTIONS

TRUMP: “You mean they are just now finding votes in Florida and Georgia — but the Election was on Tuesday? Let’s blame the Russians and demand an immediate apology from President Putin!” — tweet Friday (11/10/18).”

TRUMP: “Trying to STEAL two big elections in Florida! We are watching closely!” — tweet Saturday (11/11/18).”

“THE FACTS: He’s making baseless charges of “stealing” elections in Florida’s Senate and governor races, which headed for recounts due to razor-thin leads held by Republicans Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis, respectively.”

“It’s not uncommon for vote tallies to change in the days after the election as local officials process mailed and provisional ballots. In Florida, both Scott and DeSantis saw their leads dwindle in recent days as the Democratic strongholds of Palm Beach and Broward counties continued to count votes. That vote count concluded Saturday, leading to the Florida secretary of state’s order for recounts after the unofficial results in both races fell within the margin that by law triggers a review.”

“In the past two elections, in 2016 and 2014, Florida counted more than 99 percent of the vote on Election Day and in the early hours of the next day. In Broward, election officials updated vote totals for days after Election Day.”

“In alleging potential fraud, Scott, as outgoing governor, had said Thursday night that he was asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate elections offices in Palm Beach and Broward. However, the agency said Friday (11/9/18) there were no credible allegations of fraud and therefore, no investigation is active.”

“Scott’s campaign also filed a lawsuit asking that the Broward County supervisor of elections be ordered to turn over several records detailing the counting and collection of ballots cast. A judge Friday sided with Scott and ordered Broward’s election supervisor to release that voter information; the ruling did not address allegations of fraud.”

“The state’s election division, which Scott runs, said Saturday that its observers in Broward had seen “no evidence of criminal activity.”

“Voting fraud in Florida and nationwide, in fact, is extremely rare. Trump often asserts that voter fraud is a significant issue, but has not provided evidence of consequential fraud.”

“After the 2016 election, Trump convened a commission to investigate potential voting fraud, after alleging repeatedly and without evidence that fraud cost him the popular vote. Trump won the Electoral College. But he disbanded the panel in January, blaming the decision on more than a dozen states that refused to comply with the commission’s demand for reams of personal voter data.”

ARIZONA SENATE RACE

TRUMP: “Now in Arizona, all of a sudden, out of the wilderness, they find a lot of votes, and she’s — the other candidate is just winning by a hair.” — remarks to reporters Friday.

TRUMP: “Just out — in Arizona, SIGNATURES DON’T MATCH. Electoral corruption – Call for a new Election? We must protect our Democracy!” — tweet Friday (11/9/18).

“THE FACTS: There’s no evidence of anything unusual going on in the vote-counting in Arizona. Trump made the charges of “electoral corruption” and votes appearing “out of the wilderness” as Republican pessimism grew about Rep. Martha McSally’s prospects in the Senate race. However, Arizona normally takes more than a week to count its ballots, and no elected Republican officials in the state have cried foul. It’s possible that Democrat Kyrsten Sinema’s opponent, McSally, could jump back into the lead in the coming days. That wouldn’t be suspicious, either.”

“The vote count tends to take longer in Arizona because residents like to vote early, by mail, and a mailed-in ballot requires more work for elections officials.”

“State law requires the envelope to be sealed and signed, and for elections officials to match each signature to the one on file with the voter’s registration before even opening the envelope. In this election, that’s about 1.7 million individual signatures that had to be confirmed, one by one. A total of about 2.4 million votes were cast in Arizona.”

“The work piles up in the final days before the election as ballots flood in. Voters can also drop off sealed mail ballots on Election Day, adding to the pile. The state’s Republican secretary of state, Michele Reagan, added another reason: election security. To ensure against voter fraud, mail ballots dropped off Election Day — which totaled 320,000 — are double-checked with votes cast at the polls to confirm no one voted twice.”

“The GOP had filed a lawsuit seeking to stop Maricopa and Pima counties from contacting voters after Election Day about problems with the signatures on their mail ballots. But they, Democrats and the state’s counties settled the complaint Friday (11/9/18) to essentially allow the rest of the state to follow the more lenient Maricopa and Pima standards. Those standards are what Trump seemed to complain about in his “signatures don’t match” tweet.”

MIDTERM ELECTIONS

“TRUMP, on the message taken from Tuesday’s elections: “I think the results that I’ve learned, and maybe confirm, I think people like me. I think people like the job I’m doing, frankly. Because if you look at every place I went to do a rally … and it was very hard to do it with people in Congress because there are just too many … but I did it with the Senate. I did it with (Kentucky Rep.) Andy Barr, as you know. He won.” — news conference Wednesday (11/7/18).”

“THE FACTS: Trump is wrong to suggest that congressional candidates won in every state where he held a rally on their behalf.”

“Two Republicans who closely embraced Trump in their Senate races — Montana’s state auditor, Matt Rosendale, and West Virginia’s attorney general, Patrick Morrisey — lost to Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and Joe Manchin, respectively. Trump had visited Montana four times and West Virginia three times to rally voters. Also losing Tuesday were Republican Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada, defeated by Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen, and Leah Vukmir, a GOP state lawmaker in Wisconsin who lost her Senate race to Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Trump campaigned for Heller in Nevada on Oct. 20 and for Vukmir in Wisconsin on Oct. 24.”

“In the House, Republican Rep. Jason Lewis lost his race in Minnesota to Democrat Angie Craig, whom he had defeated by 2 percentage points in 2016. Trump campaigned in Minnesota on Oct. 4 after Lewis invited Trump to appear for him.”___

“TRUMP: “Fifty-five is the largest number of Republican senators in the last 100 years.” — news conference Wednesday (11/7/18).”

“THE FACTS: His party didn’t win 55 Senate seats Tuesday. Republicans held 55 seats in the Senate in 2005-2006, as well as 1997-2000, according to the Senate historian’s office.”

“After 11/6/18 elections, Republicans will hold a 51-46 edge, with races in Florida and Arizona too close to call. A special election in Mississippi has advanced to a runoff election on Nov. 27 between Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy. That means 54 Republican seats if those three races all break the GOP’s way.”