FACT CHECK: Image Claims To Show Ballots Cast For Donald Trump Shredded By A Poll Worker In Pensacola, Florida

Dominick Porcella | Contributor

An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows ballots cast for President Donald Trump that a poll worker shredded in Pensacola, Florida.

Verdict: False

The image, which is at least two years old, does not show shredded 2020 ballots. The Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Office and Florida Attorney General’s Office said they had not received reports of such a thing.

Fact Check:

The image shows a screen grab of a Nov. 3 tweet, allegedly from a poll worker in Pensacola, that claims to depict someone holding shredded ballots. The tweet reads, “Up early and working at the polling stations in Pensacola and boy (don’t spread this around lol) I am shredding up so many Trump ballots.”

There is, however, no evidence the image shows a shredded 2020 ballot cast for Trump. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the photo is at least two years old, having been posted to the Thrift Store Hauls subreddit page in 2018. The Reddit post reads, “Found a $2500 NSA Level 6 Security Shredder for $30.”

Brandi Zigler, the outreach and training coordinator for the Supervisor of Elections Office in Escambia County, where Pensacola is located, told Check Your Fact via email: “We have no reason to believe this is true and have reported it to law enforcement.” The Florida Attorney General’s office was likewise unaware of such an incident, saying in an email, “Our office has received no related citizen inquiries on this matter.”

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Pensacola Police Department also told Check Your Fact via phone that they had not received any reports of ballots cast for Trump being shredded. (RELATED: Viral Post Falsely Claims 23% Of Mail-In Ballots In Miami-Dade County Were Rejected For Missing Signatures)

Searching the websites of local media outlets such as Pensacola News Journal, ABC affiliate WEAR TV and CBS affiliate WKRG News didn’t turn up any reporting to date about Pensacola poll workers shredding ballots cast for Trump. The account that tweeted the image, @martymoogle, has since been suspended on Twitter for violating the platform’s rules.

The presidential race in Florida was called for Trump by The Associated Press, The New York Times and Politico on Wednesday.

Dominick Porcella

Contributor

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