"False claims of voter fraud abounded in the wake of the 2020 US general election, when Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump for the presidency. Trump himself amplified those false claims, culminating in the violent attack on the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021. Two years later, Brazil faced a similar scenario in the wake of its 2022 general election in which voters ousted incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro. Once again, claims of fraud ran rampant as Bolsonaro supporters stormed their country's capital."
"More than 5,500 participants from the US and Brazil participated in the online studies, which were conducted in the US (by YouGov) before the 2022 midterms, and in Brazil (by Qualtrics) after its 2022 presidential election. For the first two studies, participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The first group got the "prebunking" treatment, providing them with factual information on all the election security measures in place to counter false claims about voter fraud."
"It's a regrettable reality that there is never enough time to cover all the interesting scientific stories we come across each month. In the past, we've featured year-end roundups of cool science stories we (almost) missed. This year, we're experimenting with a monthly collection. September's list includes how prebunking can restore public trust in election results; why ghost sharks grow weird forehead teeth; and using neutrinos to make a frickin' laser beam, among other highlights."
A monthly science roundup highlights diverse discoveries and methods, including prebunking to restore trust in elections, ghost sharks' unusual forehead teeth, neutrino-based laser beams, a singer's dialect evolution, and a rare Einstein cross. An online set of studies enrolled more than 5,500 participants from the US and Brazil to test prebunking approaches. Participants were randomly assigned to groups; the prebunking group received factual information about election security measures designed to counter false claims of voter fraud. The prebunking strategy increased public confidence in election outcomes and reduced susceptibility to post-election conspiracies.
Read at Ars Technica
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