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Breaking: Beyond Headlines!

    • Fake video shows ‘illegal’ voters ‘cutting’
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    Fake video shows ‘illegal’ voters ‘cutting’

    Umito Posted on

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    The allegation: Video shows ‘illegal’ voters waiting in line

    A Facebook post from October 29 (direct link, archive link) shows a group walking past a long line of people and stopping to speak with someone outside a building. Alongside this clip is a video of a man describing the scene and saying that the group passing by were “foreigners” who avoided a two-hour queue.

    “ILLEGAL VOTERS CUT THE LINE (AGAIN! (sic),” the caption reads in part. “Democrat fraud machine operation in Pennsylvania – swing state – it’s counting.”

    The message includes on-screen text reading “Steel News with Ann Vandersteel.”

    The complaint was also shared on X, formerly Twitter, where it has been reposted over 53,000 times.

    Learn more about the Fact-Check team: How we screen and research claims | Electronic newsletter | Facebook page

    Our rating: False

    The video does not show “illegal” voters waiting in line, according to election officials. Instead, it shows a conversation between a county official and a group of voters and their translators. After the conversation, able-bodied voters returned to the end of the line, while disabled and elderly voters were allowed to sit and wait their turn.

    Video shows legal voters who needed translators speaking with county official

    The video was filmed at a satellite election office in Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, county spokeswoman Abigail Gardner told USA TODAY. The county issued a statement addressing the video on October 30.

    The statement said the video was filmed on October 26 and shows people who came to request an absentee ballot and needed the help of translators.

    “There was a brief conversation between voters, their translators and a county employee that was recorded on video and is circulating on the Internet,” reads the statement. “The county clerk gave instructions that elderly and disabled people were allowed to sit while waiting for their application to be processed – as county workers had allowed any elderly or disabled voter who attempted to vote in the one of our satellite offices.”

    However, valid voters returned to the end of the line, according to the declaration. Voters were allowed to use a translator throughout the process if necessary.

    More: Election Misinformation Summary: Fact-Checking False and Misleading Claims on Ballots

    Gardner told USA TODAY that disabled and elderly voters were allowed to sit inside the office at the front of the line, but they still had to wait for their turn as if they were standing in line.

    The deadline to register to vote in the region was October 21, so no one requesting an absentee ballot on October 26 could get one unless they were already registered. according to the declaration.

    “Only American citizens can register to vote.” reads the statement.

    There is no evidence that the individuals in the video were voting illegally.

    Ann Vandersteel website identifies her as a journalist for “conservative online media” and an “activist.”

    USA TODAY reached out to Vandersteel and the Facebook user who shared the post for comment, but they did not immediately respond.

    Reuters also refuted this claim.

    Our fact-checking sources:

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    Umito
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