FACT CHECK: Was An Abandoned School Bus ‘Filled With Voting Machines’ Found In Arizona?
An image shared on Facebook claims an abandoned school bus “filled with voting machines” was recently found in Arizona.
Verdict: False
The bus was transporting office equipment purchased at a surplus sale, according to the Buckeye Police Department. A spokesperson for the Arizona Secretary of State’s office confirmed the post’s claim is inaccurate.
Fact Check:
The image shows four people examining the inside of a yellow school bus from its open back door. Text overlaying the image reads, “Abandoned school bus found in Arizona filled with voting machines, windows were all blackened.”
Some social media users making the claim also suggested the bus and the voting machines allegedly found within are related to election fraud; others alleged the discovery specifically occurred in Buckeye. Allegations of election fraud, many of which Check Your Fact has debunked, have circulated widely on social media since Election Day.
The Buckeye Police Department said in a Dec. 4 Facebook post that the bus was “full of office equipment purchased at a surplus sale, complete with invoices and receipts.” The department’s statement also noted that it and an investigator from the Attorney General’s office responded to the “suspicious bus.” Accompanying the statement is the same photograph being shared on social media.
Sophia Solis, a spokesperson for the Arizona Secretary of State’s office, also confirmed in an email to the Daily Caller News Foundation: “This is absolutely false.” (RELATED: There Have Been A Lot Of Allegations Of Election Fraud, We Looked Into Them)
The claim that the bus was “filled with voting machines” may have stemmed from a version of the post that includes two other pictures, one of which shows a sticker affixed to a machine inside the bus that bears the logo for the company Election Systems and Software and encourages people to call a specific number “For Printer Support.”
“The item seen in the photo is not a voting machine or tabulation machine,” said Katina Granger, a spokesperson for Election Systems and Software, in an email to the DCNF. “The label you see in the photo is affixed to a printer.”
The Associated Press projected President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential race in Arizona on Nov. 4.
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