FACT CHECK: Did A Poll Worker From Pennsylvania’s Erie County Throw Out Ballots Cast For Donald Trump?

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

An image shared on Facebook claims a poll worker in Erie County, Pennsylvania threw out ballots cast for President Donald Trump.

Verdict: False

The user who posted the Instagram story is not a poll worker, according to the Erie County Board of Elections. All voters in Erie County use a ballot scanner to cast their completed ballots.

Fact Check:

The image, which appears to be a screen grab from an Instagram story, purportedly shows a poll worker bragging that he threw out ballots cast for Trump so that Pennsylvania would “turn blue.”

“Been working at a poll station in Erie county, PA all morning,” the screen grabbed Instagram story reads. “A lot of people have already voted today 🙂 I’ve thrown out over a hundred ballots for trump already!! Pennsylvania gonna turn blue 2020!!”

The Erie County Board of Elections released a statement Tuesday debunking the “false claim” that the Instagram user is a poll worker. (RELATED: Do Pennsylvania Quarantine Letters Tell People They Can’t Vote Until Election Day?)

“Erie County has checked into the unfortunate claim being shared across social media by someone saying they are working as part of the Erie County Board of Elections and throwing out ballots,” the statement from Erie County Board of Elections Chair Carl J. Anderson III reads. “The person making the statements does not work in any way with Erie County or have any part of Erie County’s election process. In fact, the individual is not a registered voter and is not believed to be a resident of Erie County, Pa.”

The statement goes on to say that it is now “part of an ongoing investigation to pursue potential criminal charges.” The Erie County Board of Elections also said that it “takes the integrity of the election process very seriously.”

The Erie County Voting System webpage states that “some voters in Erie County will use the Dominion Imagecast X to mark their ballot,” while “some voters will vote using a hand-marked paper ballot.” All Erie County voters will “use the ImageCast Precinct Scanner to cast their completed ballot,” according to the webpage.

The claim appears to have first spread on Twitter, and the Trump War Room account retweeted a tweet highlighting the inaccurate information.

This fact check is available at IFCN’s 2020 US Elections FactChat #Chatbot on WhatsApp. Click here, for more.

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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