Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
27%
4 of 15 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
95/100
Mother Jones's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
“California is rigging the elections,” announced the far-right conspiracist account Libs of Tiktok, run by real estate agent-turned-provocateur Chaya Raichik, on Sunday.
asserted
account → rig → Sunday
Raichik, whose post was viewed by 1.5 million people, shared a video filmed by someone who claimed the holes in the envelope were designed to reveal the vote within.
asserted
holes → view → vote
Similar claims date back to at least 2021, when viral videos began to circulate asserting that the holes would be used for tampering during that year’s gubernatorial recall election.
uncertain
holes → date → election
Since then, disinformation like Raichik’s has kept the idea alive.
asserted
disinformation → keep → idea
But the real reason behind the holes is much simpler and less insidious: they’re there so that blind and low-vision people know where to sign their envelopes.
asserted
people → ’re → envelopes
During the statewide special elections of November 2025, rumors about the ballot-envelope perforations became so pervasive that the California Secretary of State issued a statement about it:
asserted
Secretary → become → it
“We have been seeing a great deal of misinformation about the November 4, 2025, Statewide Special Election ballot envelopes, and I want to set the record straight,” said Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber at the time.
asserted
Weber → see → time
“The small holes on ballot envelopes are an accessibility feature to allow sight-impaired voters to orient themselves to where they are required to sign the envelope,” she said.
asserted
she → allow → envelope
The holes also help election workers determine whether there’s a ballot inside the envelope, an important consideration when you are trying to count ballots.
asserted
you → help → ballots
The envelope-holes theory isn’t the only conspiracy churning about the California elections this cycle.
asserted
theory → churn → elections
Federal agencies have alleged without evidence that tens of thousands of noncitizens may be voting in California, the latest unfounded claim of a mass voter fraud ring favoring Democrats.
uncertain
thousands → allege → Democrats
President Donald Trump also claimed in June that progressive Democrat Nithya Raman could not have won her mayoral primary in Los Angeles—and that those elections must have been rigged.
uncertain
elections → claim → Angeles
According to an August study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, all these stories of pervasive election fraud—be it immigration-related or tiny-holes-in-envelopes-related—have led a full 75 percent of the state’s Republicans to say they are “not confident” in California’s election systems.
uncertain
they → accord → systems
(Most Democrats, meanwhile, are worried about federal and foreign governments intervening in their elections, as opposed to internal fraud.)
asserted
governments → intervene → fraud
If the holes in your envelope show your vote, some commenters online pointed out, you’re probably folding your ballot wrong.
asserted
you → show → ballot
The Aporia
