For a long time, Lulu Friesdat made election integrity her life’s work. Drawing assist from activists and teachers, she co-founded Smart Elections, a nonpartisan group that’s against some voting machines that Ms. Friesdat believes would enhance wait occasions and price a small fortune to buy and keep.

But since 2020, issues have modified. Former President Donald J. Trump catapulted issues about voting machines into the Republican mainstream by falsely claiming that the 2020 election was rigged, partly due to digital voting machines.

Election integrity advocates, like Ms. Friesdat, now discover themselves in an uncomfortable place, pushing for election safety whereas generally amplifying claims made most vocally by conspiracy theorists, together with these concerned within the so-called Stop the Steal motion.

Some election activists warn that election machines may very well be hacked or compromised, for instance, whereas some conspiracy theorists say, with out proof, that these hacks have already taken place. Election officers say no hacks have taken place.

Misinformation watchdogs say that the considerably overlapping arguments illustrate one other consequence of Mr. Trump’s false and exaggerated voter fraud claims, which have led to doubts about election integrity amongst a large swath of the American public. Ms. Friesdat and different activists like her concern that their work could turn out to be too intently tied to conspiracy theorists and Mr. Trump’s trigger, making potential allies, like progressives, cautious of becoming a member of the battle.

“If you read an article that says that these voting machines are coming in, and people’s concerns about these issues are very similar to those of the Stop the Steal movement, then it makes it very hard for Democrats to work on this issue,” Ms. Friesdat mentioned. “And it has nothing to do with that. It has nothing to do with the Stop the Steal movement.”

Misinformation watchdogs say that the 2 actions might erode belief in American elections even additional, deliberately or not, as a result of conspiracy theorists are inclined to exaggerate authentic criticisms to rile up supporters and lift questions on your entire electoral system.

“You sow a seed of doubt, and that will grow and fester into a conspiracy theory,” mentioned Tim Weninger, a pc science professor on the University of Notre Dame who research misinformation on social media. “It always starts off with one untruth, and that grows into two untruths, and that grows into more, and before long you have an entire conspiracy theory on your hands.”

The debate has performed out nationally as a number of states have confronted pushback on digital voting machines. It is now occurring in New York, the place officers are contemplating certifying new voting machines made by Election Systems & Software, a producer primarily based in Omaha. The firm has been targeted in Mr. Trump’s voting fraud narrative, alongside opponents like Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic. Yet, ES&S and its machines have additionally come below scrutiny by election activists and safety consultants.

Ms. Friesdat and good-government teams like Common Cause, a nationwide watchdog centered on authorities accountability, have campaigned towards the machines for years, saying they’re expensive and will lengthen voter strains. They additionally warn that voters could not at all times seek the advice of the abstract playing cards, inflicting errors to sneak via.

But they’ve generally gone additional, wandering into territory now dominated by conspiracy theorists. In one Facebook submit, Smart Elections wrote that the machines can “add, delete, change votes on your ballot” — a declare nearly identical to these made by election deniers after the 2020 election.

ES&S wrote in an emailed assertion that its machines had been safe and that voters managed to finish their ballots shortly. It emphasised the ExpressVote XL might deal with a number of languages without delay and assist voters with disabilities. Though the corporate mentioned the machines value about $10,000 every, on common, it added that states would get monetary savings over time as a result of they’d not should preprint conventional ballots in a number of languages and since the brand new tools would get rid of redundancies.

The machine is extensively anticipated to be licensed quickly in New York after enduring a rigorous third-party safety evaluation.

ES&S has used the claims about potential hacks to assault these against adopting its machines. ES&S mentioned that the concern that its machines might get hacked is “a conspiratorial claim used in the aftermath of 2020.” It threatened to sue Smart Elections, calling its claims concerning the machines “false, defamatory and disparaging.”

Smart Elections responded that its views had been backed by consultants and in any other case protected as opinion.

The concern of hacking stays probably the most excessive threat highlighted by election activists, and it’s among the many false explanations provided by election deniers for the way President Biden gained in 2020. Election safety consultants say that election officers should behave as if a hack is feasible, creating audits and clear processes that enable vulnerabilities to be detected and glued earlier than they’re exploited.

But there was no proof that the 2020 election was influenced by hacking or compromised machines, and lots of officers mentioned the specter of hacking shouldn’t be blown out of proportion.

“I compare it to saying that the gold stored in the basement of the Federal Reserve Bank on Wall Street is subject to be stolen,” mentioned Douglas Kellner, a co-chair of the New York State Board of Elections, which is liable for finally certifying the machines.

“Theoretically, if you aligned all of the attack elements against the numerous security protocols it would be theoretically possible to steal the gold out of the Federal Reserve,” Mr. Kellner mentioned. “But it’s not particularly realistic.”