Fact check: What is the up date on the Rockland County investigation into voting irregularities?

1. Summary of the results

The Rockland County investigation into voting irregularities centers around a lawsuit filed by SMART Legislation, an election watchdog group, claiming serious voting irregularities in the 2024 general election ^{[1] [2]}. The lawsuit alleges statistical anomalies in vote tallies, discrepancies in vote counts, and missing votes, with some voters reporting that their ballots for Democratic candidates were not counted ^{[1] [2]}.

Current status: A New York state court has dismissed part of the lawsuit but allowed discovery to proceed ^[3]. The lead plaintiff has submitted 15 pages of document requests as part of the discovery process, seeking information on voting machines, voter rolls, and security protocols ^[4]. The plaintiff is pursuing a full, transparent hand recount of the 2024 Presidential and Senate elections ^[4].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question omits crucial context about the expert consensus rejecting these claims. An election technology and cybersecurity expert has thoroughly examined the allegations and concluded that there is no credible evidence of hacking or large-scale fraud in Rockland County's 2024 election ^[5]. The expert found the six main claims to be "technically incoherent" or based on misinterpretations of data and technology ^[5].

Multiple experts believe the statistical anomalies can be explained by legitimate factors such as ticket-splitting (voters choosing candidates from different parties for different offices) rather than fraud ^[3]. This represents a significant alternative viewpoint that challenges the premise of the investigation itself.

The question also fails to mention that this lawsuit is "helping to fan voter mistrust — on the left" ^[3], indicating this represents an unusual case of election skepticism coming from Democratic-aligned groups rather than the more common Republican-led challenges.

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The framing of the question as asking for an "update on the Rockland County investigation" implies legitimacy to claims that election security experts have definitively debunked ^[5]. By referring to it as an "investigation into voting irregularities" without noting the expert consensus that no credible irregularities exist, the question may inadvertently amplify unfounded conspiracy theories.

SMART Legislation and other groups promoting these claims would benefit from continued attention and donations by maintaining public doubt about election integrity, even when technical experts have found their allegations to be without merit ^[5]. The ongoing legal proceedings, while procedurally legitimate, may serve to perpetuate misinformation about the 2024 election results despite the lack of credible evidence supporting the underlying claims.