The Associated Press provides a regular column that its editors call “NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week.”

(It’s their way, I suspect, of discrediting “Fake news!” without using that buzzword made famous by our last president.)

The AP column is intended to explore untrue stories that spread — usually like lightning — via social media, leaving many who see the posts to believe they are informed and sending off a quick “retweet” or sharing it, further adding to swift spread of misinformation.

I, too, see and hear my fair share of misinformation, and it isn’t always on social media. Sometimes, it’s callers on talk radio. Sometimes it’s spouted shamelessly at family gatherings. Sometimes it’s in emails from readers wondering why this newspaper hasn’t reported a story, or why our report is so different from what they know REALLY happened because they read about it on Facebook.

In the days after the midterm elections, many questions arose about the process. Many Americans attempted to link the speed in which votes were counted to obvious signs of fraudulent behavior.

I heard one caller on talk radio insisting that swings by candidates who were winning by a wide margin, but who ultimately lost the race was a clear sign that fraud had occurred. What other explanation could possibly exist? This caller exhibited no knowledge that early votes generally are counted together. That could be at the start of the night, like in most local boards of elections, or perhaps later in the process, which might be the practice in other states.

It’s my experience that early voters tend to be more liberal. Conservative voters tend to prefer voting on the traditional “Election Day.”

That could explain why, for several hours early on election night Nov. 8, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, a Democrat from Howland, jumped out to a significant lead over his Republican opponent J.D. Vance in the race for U.S. Senate. We all now know the momentum shifted throughout the evening, and Vance is now Ohio’s senator-elect.

Was there election fraud? Let’s just say if there was any improper voting, I have a very hard time believing it was enough to swing the election.

In its “Not real news” column last week, The AP researched and rebutted widespread social media claims that Florida’s ability to report election results quickly during the midterms meant states that took longer — like Arizona and Nevada — were engaged in fraud.

The AP reported experts explaining that Florida had put measures into place to speed up its count on Election Day. But the fact that Florida reports results faster than other states in no way means the others are committing fraud.

“This is absurd. Arizona and Nevada have a lot fewer voters than Florida and yet they take days longer to tally the results,” one tweet said. “Total fraud.”

Voting, of course, is not regulated federally. It is handled individually by each state, so there absolutely will be variations. States’ reporting speeds largely reflect the different ways absentee and mail-in ballots are processed in each jurisdiction, election experts told the AP.

One main difference includes how soon before Election Day officials may begin pre-processing early ballots, which may involve confirming their validity or scanning them. Also, deadlines for mailing out absentee ballots and for accepting them also vary from state to state. In Florida, most mail ballots must be received by 7 p.m. Election Day. Nevada, however, accepts mail ballots up to 5 p.m. four days after the election as long as they were postmarked by Election Day.

Other differences that might speed up counting include staffing levels, equipment, time needed to verify each ballot and how long after Election Day voters are able to fix, or “cure,” their ballots if problems are found.

So, here is my best suggestion. I’d tell you to trust journalists in the mainstream media, but these days, that would be viewed suspiciously. So, instead I’ll just say this. Look for credible sources for your news and information, be cynical and question everything. After all, that’s exactly what we do.

blinert@tribtoday.com