My family and I stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings in Georgia a few weekends ago after watching one of our kids take part in a marching band competition. Surrounding us in the restaurant were wall-mounted televisions. Most showed sports, repeatedly punctuated by political ads.
At least half of them attacked transgender people. And I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anything more rancid on a TV broadcast.
One image after another of smiling human beings, framed as a monstrous threat.
The U.S. election system features checks at every step of the process to ensure only lawfully cast ballots are counted. From the poll workers checking in voters at polling locations, to poll observers reviewing the process, to the trained election officials who verify the validity of each ballot cast, every step helps ensure our elections are accurate and secure.
This column explains one less-understood aspect of the postelection process: election certification.
As the presidential election approaches, the race is ramping up – including on social media. Although Meta reported in 2022 that only about 3% of the content on Facebook is political, Americans have already begun bracing themselves for a deluge of political news stories, ads, AI deepfakes, and arguments on their feeds over the next few weeks.
Elections are stressful, and they tend to exacerbate Americans’ adverse mental health symptoms. For some people, social media can amplify political stressors.
