How US election fraud claims changed as Trump won

In the build-up to Tuesday’s US election, claims of voter fraud flooded social media - but as Donald Trump’s victory crystallised, the chatter largely subsided.

The claims didn’t stop entirely, however. A number of right-wing influencers and organisations pushing stories about “cheating” and a “rigged” vote pointed to incomplete vote totals and continued to repeat discredited theories about the 2020 election.

And disappointed Democratic Party supporters developed their own unsubstantiated voter fraud theories, some of which went viral on X, formerly Twitter, and other platforms.

The reach of the posts is nowhere near the deluge of content that circulated after Trump lost the 2020 election.

And with no support from losing candidate Kamala Harris or other Democratic Party officials, the chances seem slim of a large-scale movement developing along the lines of the “Stop the Steal” drive four years ago, which culminated in a riot at the US Capitol.