Pa., federal law enforcement are investigating a fake video spreading misinformation about Bucks County election workers
Bucks County has contacted law enforcement to investigate a fake video that purports to show an election official tearing up ballots.
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The Bucks County Board of Elections has asked state and federal law enforcement to investigate a fake video that circulated on social media Wednesday afternoon falsely suggesting county election workers were destroying ballots.
In a joint statement members of the board slammed the fake video as a dangerous spread of misinformation. The board said it reported the video to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, and the Pennsylvania Department of State.
In a statement a spokesman for the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said they had investigated the video and concluded it was fake. The office, the spokesman said, was in touch with the FBI to determine the source of the video.
“This type of behavior is meant to sow division and distrust in our election systems, and makes a mockery of the people working incredibly hard to ensure a free and fair election is carried out,” said the statement from Board of Elections members Bob Harvie, Diane Ellis-Marseglia and Gene Digirolamo. “The Board of Elections unequivocally condemns this purposeful spreading of dangerous disinformation. We will not be distracted from the job the voters of Bucks County have entrusted to us.”
Department of State spokeswoman Amy Gulli said the agency was aware of the video and had offered their assistance to Bucks County.
The video, which circulated on X, formerly known as Twitter, Wednesday afternoon shows the hands of a man as he opens ballot envelopes and rips up ballots that were purportedly cast for Trump.
The video has several inconsistencies making it clear it is not real — including using the wrong color for ballot envelopes and depicting glossy ballots that do not resemble the matte paper ballots used in Bucks County.
Misinformation about November’s election has been spreading in Pennsylvania and across the country for months as residents and online actors continue to spread former President Donald Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen. X has been a hotspot for misinformation about the election as its owner, Elon Musk, has actively participated in the spread of false information about elections in Philadelphia and elsewhere.