What sources first reported the claim that 1.4 million NYC mayoral votes were fake?

1. Where mainstream outlets actually reported election results — not a 1.4M-fake-votes story

News organizations in the search results — AP, The New York Times, NBC, PBS and NPR — focused on live counts, precinct maps, turnout and the eventual winner, Zohran Mamdani, rather than reporting any claim that 1.4 million votes were fabricated ^{[1] [2] [3] [6] [4]}. The New York Times published precinct-level maps and certified results using New York City Board of Elections data ^[7]. These mainstream outlets are where one would expect an initial report of large-scale fraud to appear; the supplied items show no such reporting of 1.4 million fake votes ^{[1] [2] [7]}.

2. Viral social posts and satire were the documented origin of some voter-fraud claims

Fact-checkers and wire services in the provided material traced at least one viral voter-fraud narrative to social-media satire: a clip of a person joking they would vote “six” times for a candidate circulated widely and was repurposed as supposed proof of fraud ^[5]. AFP’s fact-check reported the clip was originally a joke playing on a meme, and that conservative accounts amplified it as evidence of wrongdoing ^[5]. That reporting identifies social-video satire — not an official source — as a primary origin for some fraud claims ^[5].

3. No source in the supplied set is credited with first reporting a 1.4M-fake-votes figure

Available sources do not mention any outlet or person who first reported that “1.4 million” votes were fake. The documents list live results pages, precinct maps, and fact-checks about isolated viral posts — none assert or trace a 1.4 million fabrication figure to an originating report ^{[1] [2] [7] [5]}. Therefore, in this dossier there is no provenance for the specific “1.4 million fake votes” claim.

4. What the fact-checking reporting actually says about fraud risks and evidence

AFP’s fact-check emphasizes that New York statutes, poll-watcher systems, and low historical conviction numbers make large-scale duplicate-vote schemes unlikely; AFP found only two convictions for duplicate voting in New York since 1982 and reported security mechanisms to prevent multiple voting ^[5]. The fact-check also showed how a joking social clip was misframed as evidence — illustrating how small viral content can be extrapolated into larger, unsubstantiated narratives ^[5].

5. Competing narratives and political context you should weigh

Political actors amplified concerns and accusations during the campaign: the election generated intense partisan messaging and targeted attacks against candidates like Zohran Mamdani, and conservative figures and accounts repeatedly shared unverified fraud claims ^{[5] [8]}. Separately, PolitiFact explained ordinary ballot phenomena like fusion voting — candidates appearing on the ballot multiple times — which some commentators misstated as a “scam” ^[9]. These two threads show how technical ballot features and social-media satire can be repurposed into broader fraud narratives without supporting evidence ^{[9] [5]}.

6. What is and isn’t established by the supplied reporting

Established by the sources: mainstream outlets published vote tallies, precinct maps and named Mamdani the winner; fact-checkers traced certain viral fraud claims to satire and social posts and noted institutional safeguards ^{[1] [2] [7] [5]}. Not found in current reporting: any credible attribution or original report that 1.4 million New York City mayoral votes were “fake” (available sources do not mention a 1.4 million-fake-votes allegation) ^{[1] [2] [5]}.

If you want, I can take the next step: search beyond these items for any appearance of the 1.4 million figure, identify who first promoted it, and retrieve official responses from the Board of Elections or mainstream outlets addressing that exact number.