Are touchscreen voting machines flipping votes in 2026?

What's being said

During early voting for the 2026 midterms, voters in Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, Kansas and Ohio posted videos and accounts of touchscreen ballot-marking machines showing a different candidate from the one they meant to pick. Some posts say the machines are deliberately flipping votes.

What's known

• Bexar County, Texas, Elections Administrator Michele Carew said in an October 23 press release: "Reports of mismatched selections are almost always due to user touchscreen sensitivity, not machine malfunction." She said touchscreens need a firm, direct tap.
• Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins told WSMV that a reported case "appears to be a voter error" that could have come from an unintended touch, and said voting equipment is tested before elections.
• According to PolitiFact, the counties with reported issues use machines that print a paper ballot and do not store voters' selections. Selections show on the screen, on a review screen at the end, and on the printed paper ballot.
• The South Carolina Election Commission told the AP it had seen no unusual increase in such reports, and that a voter can have a ballot spoiled and replaced before it is scanned.
• Voting machine maker ES&S told PolitiFact that incorrect touchscreen choices are "rare."

What's unverified

Individual videos have not been independently checked, and no election official, audit or court has reported a machine changing a recorded vote this cycle.

What would settle it

An audit or official review showing printed or counted ballots that differ from what voters selected. Officials advise voters to check the review screen and the paper ballot before casting it, and to tell a poll worker right away if a choice looks wrong.