Video of ballots being destroyed in Bucks County, Pennsylvania is a hoax

A viral video that went viral showing mail-in ballots being destroyed in suburban Philadelphia is a hoax, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said.

“The Bucks County Board of Elections is aware that a video circulated on social media this afternoon showing Bucks County mail-in ballots being opened and destroyed. This video is fraudulent,” county officials said in an online statement posted Thursday. he said.

“It is clear that the envelopes and materials shown in this video are not original materials owned by or distributed by the Bucks County Board of Elections.”

Manuel Gamiz Jr., spokesman for the Bucks County district attorney. He confirmed in an email late Thursday afternoon that local and federal law enforcement are investigating the source of this fraud. County spokesman James O’Malley said one clue that the video was fake was that the envelopes shown in the video appeared shiny, a feature not found on official ballot envelopes.

The non-shiny secrecy envelopes on the official ballots can be seen in this video released by the county. YouTube in August.

The video shows a stack of sealed mail ballot envelopes on a table as an unidentified man rips up the ballots, along with votes for former President Donald Trump and votes for Vice President Kamala Harris.

The man in the video repeatedly said “F— Donald Trump” as he ripped up the ballots.

According to the statement made by the state, the FBI, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and the Pennsylvania Department of State were also contacted regarding the video.

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“The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office and the Yardley County Police Department are aware of a video circulating on social media depicting the destruction of election ballots. Our investigation concluded that this video was fabricated in an attempt to undermine confidence in the upcoming election,” Gamiz said.

Bucks County commissioner and Board of Elections Chairman Bob Harvie said the election board “unequivocally condemns this deliberate spread of dangerous disinformation.”

“This type of behavior aims to sow division and distrust in our electoral systems and makes a mockery of the people who work incredibly hard to ensure a free and fair election,” Harvie said. he said.

A post sharing the two-minute video on X, formerly known as Twitter, had reached more than 342,000 shares as of 14:40 on Thursday.

The Bucks County Democratic Committee also released a statement Thursday evening condemning the video.

“This clearly fraudulent and frankly racist video is little more than a despicable attempt by Donald Trump supporters to cast doubt on the votes we cast through the mail system and, ultimately, the results of the Presidential Election,” said State Senator Steve Santarsiero. D-Bucks) is the chairman of the county Democratic committee.

“Fortunately, we believe that the public will see this and the election process will proceed without incident.”

The Bucks County Republican Committee was also quick to speak out about the video in a post to the group. Facebook pageHe said the video was “intended to intimidate voters and deter (voters) from using mail-in ballots or optional voting, which uses the same mail-in ballot process.”

Reporter Chris Ullery can be reached at [email protected]..