# Voting machine vote-switching claims debunked > Election experts say reported touchscreen issues are calibration problems or voter error, not deliberate switching. - Title: Voting machine vote-switching claims debunked · FactCheck.org - Summary: Election experts say reported touchscreen issues are calibration problems or voter error, not deliberate switching. Claims that voting machines are switching… - Keywords: voting machines, election security, touchscreen voting, vote-switching claims, tennessee, south carolina, texas, election officials, fact-checking, politics, fact check, Voting - Source: FactCheck.org — https://factcheck.org/2026/10/dispelling-unfounded-claims-about-voting-machine-issues - Author: James Constan - Published: 2026-10-28T18:18:12+00:00 - Read time: 2 min - Topics: voting machines, election security, touchscreen voting, vote-switching claims, tennessee, south carolina, texas, election officials, fact-checking, politics, fact check ## Social media claims spread Facebook posts claim electronic voting machines changed Democratic votes to Republican votes in Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee and other states. The claims started spreading last week. ## Stella Parton's complaint On October twenty-first, Stella Parton, sister of the late Dolly Parton, posted on Facebook that she had to go back three times and correct her vote because it kept defaulting to Marsha Blackburn. > had to go back three times and correct my vote because it kept defaulting to Marsha Blackburn ## Tennessee context Marsha Blackburn is a Republican senator from Tennessee running for governor against Democrat Jerri Green. The Cook Political Report rates the race as solid Republican. ## Experts say calibration issue David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said every election brings vote-flipping claims. For older machines, calibration problems occur. For modern touchscreens, human error explains most claims. > every election we get these smattering of vote-flipping claims ## Tennessee election official responds Mark Goins, State Coordinator of Elections in Tennessee, said it is not vote-flipping but unintended touches voters may not realize. Multiple safeguards exist between candidate selection and ballot processing. > It's not a vote-flipping situation. It's normally like an unintended touch that they may not even realize. ## Review screens protect voters Voters see a review screen of their selections before printing ballots. After printing, the ballot can be reviewed before depositing into the scanner. Votes are counted on paper ballots, not screens. > The votes aren't being counted on the screen. … They're actually being counted on that paper ballot that's going in the scanner ## Election law expert weighs in Justin Levitt, law professor at Loyola Marymount University and former White House senior policy adviser for democracy, said touchscreen calibration issues are familiar.The fix is easy: verify choices and alert poll workers if problems occur. > these stories always end up showing that the touchscreens aren't quite precisely calibrated ## Computer security expert's view Andrew Appel, professor emeritus of computer science at Princeton University, said calibration issues happen every couple of years in a few places. Malicious hacking is unlikely because voters would notice. > This happens, in a few places, every couple of years. It is typically a touchscreen calibration issue. ## South Carolina and Texas findings Election officials in South Carolina and Texas said there was no systematic issue with touchscreens. South Carolina noted unintended selections are common during high-turnout elections and multiple safeguards protect voter intent. ## Texas uses paper ballots Texas assistant secretary of state Alicia Pierce said no one reported this experience to their office.Texas does not use direct recording electronic machines except for voters with disabilities.Machines produce human-readable paper ballots voters review. ## Paper ballot safeguard According to Verified Voting, only one point three percent of registered voters, those in Louisiana, use electronic machines without seeing paper ballots.The vast majority votes with paper ballots or machines that print ballots for review. ## Not mysterious or nefarious Justin Levitt said the issue is simply pressure-sensitive screens being over or under-sensitive for particular users. It can be readily addressed if voters alert polling place officials about problems. > It's not mysterious, or nefarious. It's just a question of a pressure-sensitive screen being over- or under-sensitive for particular users. ## Key takeaway Claims that voting machines are switching Democratic votes to Republican votes lack evidence; experts attribute reported issues to touchscreen calibration problems or voter error.