Associated Press: Election scrutiny high, but US votes without major hitches

Americans voted without major problems Tuesday in midterm elections that drew intense scrutiny after two years of false claims and conspiracy theories about how ballots are cast and counted.

With polls open across the country, no widespread problems with ballots, long lines or voter intimidation were reported, though there were hiccups in some places, which is typical on any Election Day. …

Since the last nationwide election in 2020, former President Donald Trump and his allies have succeeded in sowing wide distrust about voting by promoting false claims of extensive fraud. Those efforts, which have eroded public confidence in elections and democracy, continued Tuesday as Trump and other prominent Republicans claimed that routine voting problems were a sign of efforts by Democrats to rig the election.

“There are attempts to use those election administration and voting machine issues that election workers are working to fix to spin a disinformation campaign,” said Jesse Littlewood, vice president of campaigns at Common Cause, which advocates for voting access.