“Finally, a judge has ruled Dominion voting machines were designed to create fraud.”
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No, a judge has not ruled that Dominion voting machines were designed for fraud
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A judge ruled in December that an "audit report" on voting in the 2020 presidential election in Antrim County, Mich., be released to the public.
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The judge did not issue any ruling about the contents of the report.
- The report, discredited by elections officials, was from a firm that provided analyses and affidavits for lawsuits brought by allies of Donald Trump, falsely alleging voter fraud and election irregularities.
False allegations of fraud in the 2020 presidential election persist.
"Yuup ! — FINALLY, A JUDGE HAS RULED Dominion Voting Machines were designed to create fraud," reads a March 18 post widely shared on Facebook.
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
Though the post offers no more detail, it appears the post is alluding to a lawsuit in Antrim County, located northeast of Traverse City in northern Michigan, and a discredited "audit report." No judge issued a ruling finding fraud.
In February, we rated False a claim that the audit report found that a voting system used in Antrim County in the 2020 election was designed to "create systemic fraud."
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The audit report was from a firm that provided analyses and affidavits for lawsuits brought by allies of then-President Donald Trump, falsely alleging voter fraud and election irregularities. It was discredited by Michigan election officials and the former head of certification at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the federal agency that certified the voting system used in Antrim County.
Circuit Court Judge Kevin Elsenheimer in December ordered that the report be released. But he made no ruling about any alleged fraud.
An official hand audit performed by a bipartisan group of election officials confirmed what Antrim County had already certified, that Trump had won the county, even as he lost Michigan to Joe Biden.
We rate the post False.
Our Sources
Facebook post, March 18, 2021
PolitiFact, "No proof that voting system in Michigan was designed to ‘create systemic fraud,’" Feb. 1, 2021
Associated Press, "Judge did not rule Dominion machines were designed for fraud," March 22, 2021
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No, a judge has not ruled that Dominion voting machines were designed for fraud
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