News

Nov 06, 2024

Video unrelated to Pennsylvania voting machine issues | Fact check

A Nov. 5 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a video of multiple people adjusting and re-arranging what appear to be vote-tabulating machines. “BREAKING: FIVE Trump-leaning counties in

A Nov. 5 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a video of multiple people adjusting and re-arranging what appear to be vote-tabulating machines.

“BREAKING: FIVE Trump-leaning counties in Pennsylvania are experiencing Maricopa County, (sic) WIDESPREAD MACHINE FAILURES,” the post’s caption reads in part.

A version shared to X, formerly Twitter, was reposted more than 10,000 times in less than a day.

More from the Fact-Check Team: How we pick and research claims | Email newsletter | Facebook page

The video is miscaptioned and doesn't provide any evidence of current or past election impropriety. It shows election workers following standard procedures in Arizona and predates the 2024 presidential election by more than two years.

With 19 electoral votes, Pennsylvania is the most valuable of the swing states in this year's race. That made it a top priority for both candidates, with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump each barnstorming there.

Fact check: Ron DeSantis said Florida won't use Dominion voting machines? Not true

But while some counties reported problems with their machines, those issues are not shown or related to the attached video clip. Rather, that video was captured in 2022 and has circulated online for years. It doesn't show any manner of malfeasance.

A still image of the same scene was posted by officials in Maricopa County, Arizona, in 2023. In debunking claims of fraud in that state, they explained that the video shows workers there installing memory cards, which happens during every election.

The Nov. 5 video matches a clip shared to X in 2023. They have the same background music and begin with white on-screen text that reads, “Breaking the seals and removing memory cards” before a woman is shown adjusting one machine and then moving to an adjacent one. The clips then speed up, with a man in a dark shirt moving behind a desk in a cubicle and the phrase “reprogramming the memory cards” appears on the screen in black type.

Both the image and video contain a timestamp indicating it was captured on Oct. 14, 2022, before that year’s midterm election.

The Facebook post's caption references "Dominion Rigging Systems," but an array of claims that Dominion Voting Systems acted improperly in past elections have been debunked by election officials of both parties. Fox News agreed to pay Dominion nearly $800 million to avoid a trial related to lies the network promoted about the 2020 presidential election.

USA TODAY previously debunked false claims that the placement of Trump’s name on the second page of a California ballot is evidence of fraud, that a video shows a “ballot mule” in Nebraska and that a Chicago suburb was failing to record votes.

USA TODAY reached out to several Facebook users who shared the post but did not immediately receive responses.

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.

USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta.