Does a video show a worker tearing up a ballot for President Donald Trump? No, that's not true: It was a prank. There's no evidence the man, who says in the video "we get your votes and we separate them," was a poll worker. Since it went viral, he has stated that the video was made as a joke.
The video appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on November 9, 2020. It showed a man, wearing a face mask and fluorescent vest, appearing to destroy a ballot. The post read:
Guy videoing himself on tik tok, Tearing up Ballots marked Donald Trump ...
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue Nov 10 15:00:14 2020 UTC)
The roughly 20-second video was first shared by TikTok user @bigchoppadoe and quickly spread to other platforms. In it, a man appeared to be sorting through ballots. He said:
If some of these votes happen to say, like this one, Donald J. 'Dumb' Trump, that one just don't make it.
He then tore up the alleged ballot and tossed it behind his head.
Some people on social media took the video as evidence of voter fraud. But it was just a prank.
In a Facebook post, user Dale Harrison explained the video, which had a laughing emoji and the message "Send Viral" on it. His photos on Facebook match the man in the TikTok video.
Lead Stories reached out to Harrison to comment for this story. We will update this report, as appropriate, when he responds.
Harrison wrote on Facebook:
Sooo I did this video in my Amazon outfit cause y'all know I'm always joking! And it's getting crazyyyy views! They Ass finding me on every app!!!! So when do I move to Hollywood??? Hahahah 🤣
Posted by Dale Harrison on Monday, November 9, 2020
