The GOP suffered a major blow in Pennsylvania, where Donald Trump-endorsed candidate, Dr Mehmet Oz, was defeated by Democratic rival John Fetterman.

Some Republican activists are already suggesting the election was marred by fraud, though no conclusive evidence has been provided.

This mirrors Trump’s claim that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” against him, which the former president continued to make during midterm campaign rallies.

At least 168 Republican ’election deniers,’ who have either questioned or outright rejected the 2020 presidential election result, have been elected across the U.S. in this week’s midterms, according to Newsweek analysis.

The Claim

More than 318,000 people have watched a 25-second video posted on Twitter by a self-described “Trumpie,” which the poster said shows “Rigging ballots live on TV.”

The video, taken from a news broadcast, shows a man going over a ballot paper, whilst appearing to make some marks with his pen.

Other Twitter users responded with fury, with one writing “jail for that guy” whilst another posted “arrest him.”

The Facts

The footage was filmed in Madison in Dane County, the state capitol of Wisconsin.

Scott McDonell, the Dane County clerk, spoke to local network News 3 Now, explaining the ballot was being marked as part of standard procedure.

In a statement he said: “The photo below is of the portion on the ballot that the poll worker was marking. It is done to indicate which ward the ballot was cast in. The ward is circled and then that is initialed by the poll worker for verification purposes.

“He is marking that same spot on one side of each ballot: quite clearly not filling out a ballot from top to bottom. This process is required by law and is part of the checks and balance process.

“It is done in a public setting and the ballot would then need to be signed by a different poll worker before being handed to the voter. This is how you can verify the ballot was issued by the city.”

The Ruling

False.

As the Dane County clerk explained, the ballot was being marked by a poll worker to indicate its ward, as is standard procedure.

Neither the Republican Party in Wisconsin, nor the national party, has made any accusation of impropriety related to the incident, which was clearly broadcast on a TV news channel.

Claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged have been repeatedly rejected in court, and by independent election experts.

FACT CHECK BY NEWSWEEK