We know that social media can change people's minds, which can sometimes be a good thing, but not always. For example, this election has been full of misinformation—not only from the candidates, but also from internet trolls who want to suppress voter turnout. One such troll is Jefferson Riley, the Republican mayor of Mansfield, Georgia.
In a Facebook post, Mansfield Mayor Jefferson Riley wrote, "Remember the voting days: Republicans vote on Tuesday, 11/8 and Democrats vote on Wednesday, 11/9."
Of course, that's not true. Political commentator Joy Reid saw the post as "trying to fool Democratic voters."
Others on Twitter are calling for Riley to be investigated for voter suppression:
The post, which Riley said is a joke, has since been deleted, along with Riley's entire Facebook page.
The mayor's office didn't immediately respond to Complex's request for comment, but Riley told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "People take things so seriously. You can't joke about anything anymore—especially on social media."
But others didn't buy it. Even if it was a joke, one person wrote on Twitter, it's "a stupid and irresponsible one."
Another didn't even give Riley's excuse that much credit, saying that the post was "not a joke and amounts to a federal crime."
The mayor of Mansfield, which has a population of just over 400 people, is a Trump supporter who has previously used social media to accuse Democrats of rigging the election, according to the Washington Post.
Whether or not Riley was joking, the Republicans do have a record of suppressing voter turnout. Back in August, a federal court overturned a law in North Carolina that restricted voting rights; the ruling declared that the law "targeted African-American voters with almost surgical precision," according to NBC News.
In fact, this is the first election without the full Voting Rights Act, according to The Week.
There's still time to vote today, as polls won't close for a few hours, depending on the state.
