When a TikTok video from a Streamwood resident went viral, it claimed a Cook County voting machine displayed a warning that the candidate she selected was not the “more popular choice.” The clip, which has been reshared more than a million times, sparked accusations of a rigged election in Illinois.
County officials refute the allegation
Deputy Clerk of Communications Sally Daly told PolitiFact that there are no Republican judicial candidates on the ballot, contradicting the woman’s statement that she “picked the Republican judges.” Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon, a Democrat, called the video “false and misleading” and explained that voting equipment does not provide popularity information.
“Voting equipment does not tell voters which candidates are more popular, nor does it discourage voters from selecting any particular candidate,” Gordon wrote. “The equipment may display a notification if a voter leaves a contest blank or does not make all available selections (an undervote).”
How the machine works
The machines used in Cook County are ImageCast X devices manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems, now owned by Liberty Vote. When a voter makes fewer selections than allowed in a contest, the system displays a message such as “This contest is undervoted!” This feature, required by the 2002 Help America Vote Act and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s 2005 guidelines, gives voters a second chance to correct a possible mistake before casting the ballot.
Election‑technology expert Ryan Macias, who has served in both Trump and Biden administrations, described the alert as “second‑chance voting” that helps ensure ballots are complete. He noted that the same standards are applied in dozens of states and the District of Columbia.
Attempts to reproduce the message failed
Aris Garcia, the Streamwood Village Clerk and a Republican, posted on Facebook that officials tried to recreate the alleged notification but were unable to duplicate the experience. The Cook County Clerk’s Office shared an image of the standard undervote warning to illustrate the difference.
Gordon added that the incident is the only report of this type received from a jurisdiction with nearly 1.8 million registered voters.
Context of Dominion claims
President Donald Trump and many of his supporters have repeatedly questioned Dominion’s role in elections, despite numerous audits and certifications confirming the company’s compliance with federal standards. Liberty Vote, the current owner of Dominion, referred PolitiFact to the clerk’s statement, underscoring that the equipment operates as designed.
In short, the message seen in the video is a routine undervote alert, not a sign that the machine is favoring any candidate or that the election is rigged.
Original reporting: WPBF West Palm Beach — read the source article.
