Have 132,000 ballots in Fulton County, Georgia, been identified as likely ineligible? No, that's not true: Officials in that county characterized the claim as "false and baseless."
The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published by Gateway Pundit on November 8, 2020. It opened: "Huge news tonight" and continued:
There are reportedly 132,000 change of address flags in Fulton County, Georgia ballots. These ballots are likely ineligible.
Users on social media saw this title, description and thumbnail:
HUGE BREAKING NEWS IN GEORGIA - 132,000 Ballots in Fulton County, Georgia Have Been Identified Which Are Likely Ineligible
Huge news tonight. There are reportedly 132,000 change of address flags in Fulton County, Georgia ballots. These ballots are likely ineligible. Kyle Becker and People's Pundit on Twitter announced moments ago that 132,000 ballots in Fulton Country Georgia are likely ineligible. GEORGIA. 132,000 "Change of Address" RED FLAGS in Fulton County, GA. These votes are...
Gateway Pundit sourced its story to tweets by Kyle Becker and Peoples_Pundit. Becker, whose Twitter page identifies him a former associate producer and writer at Fox News, retweeted Peoples_Pundit, otherwise known as Richard Baris, a political blogger. Their tweets can be seen here:
GEORGIA.
-- Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 8, 2020
132,000 "Change of Address" RED FLAGS in Fulton County, GA. These votes are "highly likely ineligible to vote and have moved," per source.
Biden leads Georgia by 10K votes as of last update.
It's enough to be a *gamechanger.* 🚨🚨🔽https://t.co/J2X7VoEFkR
Becker later sent another tweet, distancing himself from the story, stressing that he was not the source of the original claim concerning potentially "ineligible" votes. He said:
-- Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 9, 2020
Lead Stories reached out to officials in Fulton County, Georgia, to ask about the allegation. They responded in a short statement, which read:
Fulton County is aware of allegations of 132,000 ballots being 'flagged.' These claims are simply false and baseless. Certain news organizations have circulated this information without contacting Fulton County for confirmation."
When asked specifically about the 132,000 purported "flags," a spokeswoman for the county said she was not aware of such a phenomenon. Jessica Corbitt said:
From what we can tell, the entire claim is false."
Georgia was a major battleground state in the 2020 presidential election. The secretary of state, who oversees statewide election data, is a Republican, Brad Raffensperger.
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