A staged video claimed someone destroys a balloon…

YARDLEY, Pa. (AP) – A video showing mail-in ballots for former President Donald Trump apparently being destroyed in a Philadelphia suburb quickly took off on social media Thursday afternoon.

Immediately afterwards came cries of election fraud.

But within three hours, Bucks County election officials protested the video and identified it as fake.

“The envelope and materials depicted in this video are clearly not authentic materials belonging to or distributed by the Bucks County Board of Elections,” a statement said. Released by the board on Thursday.

This last claim involving a key province is an example not only of efforts to sway voters in the final weeks of a contentious election, but also of how election officials have learned over the past four years to take quick action to combat false narratives.

Since 2020, distrust in the voting process has taken hold among many Americans, creating an additional challenge for state and local officials who must not only administer elections but also repeatedly explain and emphasize the safeguards put in place to protect the vote .

Election officials across the country have spent the past few years in preparation for the onslaught of false claimsfrom conducting worst-case scenario tabletop exercises to strengthening emergency procedures in law enforcement to publishing proactive fact-checks on their websites. Many have also increased transparency with the public and opened their doors to full-access tours, hoping this will prevent some of the most damaging conspiracy theories.

The Bucks County video isn’t the only case where this work has paid off. When AI-generated robocalls aimed at Democratic voters in New Hampshire Days before the January primary, state authorities quickly issued statements and began investigations, which ultimately led to criminal charges and fines for the responsible person.

Disinformation experts say the Bucks County video signals a trend likely to increase in the days leading up to Election Day — insidious disinformation, sometimes from foreign sources, that aims to undermine public confidence in the election process.

This particular video is “almost certainly” connected to one Russian disinformation network known as Storm-1516 or CopyCop, according to Darren Linvill, the co-director of the Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University, who has closely studied the group.

The user who popularized the video on X was an early amplifier of several other stories from this network, he said. These include a fake video that spread earlier this month making baseless accusations against Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. The user also amplified the very first story following Linvill’s team from Storm-1516, in August 2023.

The style and look of the latest video is consistent with other videos from the network, including the use of a black actor, Linvill said.

That has long been a trend in fake videos from Russia, said Josephine Lukito, an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin who has researched Russian disinformation. She said the use of a black actor with an accent in the video is intentional as a way to stoke existing divisions on American soil.

“It tends to reinforce racism, right?” Lukito said. “There is already a huge discussion going on about immigrants voting illegally or about immigration in general. Russian disinformation is absolutely taking advantage of that.”

After the video was debunked, the X user deleted his original post and shared multiple posts from other accounts, labeling it as fake.

America PAC, a super political action committee launched by billionaire X owner Elon Musk will support Trump in his bid for a second term was among those who denounced the video – a stark contrast to the misinformation that often spreads on often fueled by Musk himself. The PAC declined a request for further comment.

There were several clues that immediately indicated that the Bucks County video was fabricated. For example, under Pennsylvania law, election officials have to wait to 7 a.m. ET on Election Day before they can begin processing mail-in ballots and getting them ready for counting.

Other tips included the dark green color on the left side of the outer envelopes – it’s actually more of a kel green – and the shine of the inner and outer casings, which are actually a matte finish. Additionally, none of the envelopes in the video had voters’ return addresses written on them.

Complaints from citizens throughout Bucks County and a call from Yardley Borough’s police chief alerted District Attorney Jennifer Schorn that the video was circulating online. Schorn attended a preliminary conference Thursday and when she came out she saw the calls pouring in about the video.

“Right at that point we began investigating the video and ultimately came to the conclusion that it was in fact fabricated,” she said in a telephone interview Friday.

The district attorney’s office initially investigated the video along with Yardley Borough police.

Schorn was reluctant to describe how authorities reached their conclusion, citing concerns that subsequent fraudsters could improve their tactics. She said the FBI immediately picked up the investigation and is trying to determine who shot the video. The FBI declined to comment on the investigation.

Schorn said her office has appointed two attorneys to screen fraud allegations and that they will be present “24/7” on Election Day.

Both Republicans and Democrats in the county called the video fake and expressed concern about how it could influence the election.

“To us, this is disinformation designed to scare voters and discourage them from using mail-in ballots or on-demand voting, which use the same mail-in voting process,” the Bucks Republican Committee said County. wrote in a statement. “We have seen dirty, underhanded tactics this year, from defaced signs, letters threatening Trump supporters, and now this video trying to scare Bucks County voters.”

Pennsylvania Sen. Steve Santarsiero, chairman of the Bucks County Democratic Committee, called the video an attempt to “cast doubt on our voting-by-mail system and, ultimately, the outcome of the presidential election.” in a statement.

Neither the origin of the video nor its intent have been confirmed.

The rapid response to the video was possible because people spoke out, Schorn said. She added that she thinks this incident showed that officials are ready for what could come and hopes it “continues in that spirit.”

“I don’t blame Americans at all for wanting to be reassured that the system can be trusted,” she said. “I don’t blame that, because unfortunately there are criminal entities that undermine processes. I felt reassured yesterday. I felt like it worked the way it was supposed to work.”

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