U.S. officials confirmed that Russian actors were responsible for a video that falsely depicted mail-in ballots for Donald Trump being destroyed in Pennsylvania. The video gained traction on social media Thursday but was debunked within three hours by local election officials and law enforcement after it was reported by the public.
In a statement released by the FBI, U.S. officials indicated that the video was “manufactured and amplified” by Russian actors as part of Moscow’s broader effort to undermine the integrity of the U.S. election and create divisions among Americans. The statement was issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
The Bucks County Board of Elections identified the video as fraudulent on Thursday, noting that the envelopes and materials in the video did not belong to the board. This quick response highlighted how election officials have improved their ability to swiftly counter false narratives since the 2020 election when many American voters became distrustful of the voting process.
The video showed an individual, who was identified as Black, appearing to destroy ballots marked for Trump but leaving those marked for Vice President Kamala Harris intact. Researchers connected the video to a Russian disinformation network known as Storm-1516 or CopyCop, which has previously distributed false information about Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz.
Darren Linvill, co-director of the Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University, noted that the user who popularized the video on the social platform X had been an early promoter of narratives from this network. Josephine Lukito, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, suggested that the choice of using a Black actor with a foreign accent was intentional to inflame existing American social divisions, a common tactic in Russian disinformation efforts.
After the video was debunked, the X user who shared it deleted their post and disavowed the video as fake. America PAC, a super PAC launched by Elon Musk to support Trump’s campaign, also denounced the video despite the misinformation that often spreads on the platform.
Several indicators exposed the video as fabricated. Pennsylvania law requires that mail-in ballots not be processed until 7 a.m. on Election Day. Furthermore, the colors and finish of the envelopes in the video were inconsistent with authentic materials, and the envelopes lacked voters’ return addresses.
District Attorney Jennifer Schorn was alerted to the video by multiple complaints and a call from the Yardley Borough police chief. An investigation quickly concluded that the video was fabricated. Schorn expressed caution about disclosing investigative methods to prevent future fraud.
Both Republican and Democratic officials in Bucks County labeled the video as disinformation and expressed concerns about its potential impact on the election. The Bucks County Republican Committee condemned the video for attempting to deter voters from using mail-in ballots, and Sen. Steve Santarsiero of the Bucks County Democratic Committee described it as an attempt to undermine the vote-by-mail system.
Officials appreciated the swift identification of this and other falsehoods during the election cycle. Schorn remarked on the importance of reassuring Americans about the election system’s reliability amidst efforts by criminal entities to undermine it.
