By Lisa Stettler, LWV Snohomish County

When it comes to the challenges facing elections, King County’s top elections officer doesn’t mince words.   

“The biggest threat to elections isn’t voter fraud. It’s rumors,” Julie Wise, King County director of Elections, told attendees at a University of Washington gathering last month. It was sponsored by the school’s Center for an Informed Public and the League of Women Voters of Seattle King County.  

During a conversation with center co-founder professor Kate Starbird, Wise said rumors tend to erode people’s trust in elections, prompting would-be voters to turn away. 

“Democracy is at its finest when everyone votes,” Wise said, explaining how rumors tear away at the foundation of a democratic system.   

Starbird’s name is familiar to many League members. She was a keynote speaker at the June 2025 statewide League convention in Vancouver, where her presentation was titled “Spotlight on Rumors: Influence and Improvisation in the Alternative Media Ecosystem.”  

In that presentation, Starbird reflected on more than 10 years of research into online rumors during times of crisis. She explained how rumors spread and can be exploited to gain influences and shape political outcomes.   

Over the past 18 months, members of the Seattle King League and the state League’s Media Literacy and News Education Project have worked with officials at the center to address mis- and dis-information. 

Rumors make election processes look suspicious, Starbird said at the July event. The result, she added, is “the truth has a disadvantage in this environment.”  

A graduate research student at the center, Stephen Prochaska, explained that the CIP’s goal “is to ensure that people are not disenfranchised due to bad information.”  

Among the day’s activities was an opportunity to participate in a bingo game that Prochaska presented to help people identify repeated, false election rumors.   

Prochaska also discussed five categories of often-repeated rumors: False evidence, misinterpreted evidence, omitting remedies, exaggerated impact and falsely attributed intent. 

Lisa Stettler is a former journalist who taught high school journalism and U.S government and current issues, which included media literacy during a more than 20-year career in education.  She is a member of the LWVWA Media Literacy and News Education committee that produced the four Media and News Literacy Educational Workshops offered to members last fall and this winter.  The group is now developing a toolkit for members to provide media literacy training to the public. The toolkit is expected to be ready early next calendar year.