Video of ballots being destroyed was faked by Russia, US officials say

Pottstown, Pa: Federal officials said Friday that a video showing mailed-in ballots in Pennsylvania being destroyed was a fake, created by Russia as part of Moscow’s efforts to influence the US presidential election.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has issued repeated warnings about Russia’s attempts to sow chaos and undermine faith in the integrity of the presidential vote. The video falsely showing destroyed ballots was part of that campaign, the office said in a joint statement with the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

In the statement, intelligence officials said they expected both in the approach to the election and in the weeks after that Russia would “create and release additional media content that seeks to undermine trust in the integrity of the election and divide Americans.”

The video, which was circulated on social media and purported to show ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, being ripped up, was quickly called out as fake by local Republican and Democratic election officials.

“This type of behavior is meant to sow division and distrust in our election systems, and makes a mockery of the people working incredibly hard to ensure a free and fair election is carried out,” county officials said in a statement.

US intelligence officials have previously said that Moscow favors the election of Donald Trump. In recent weeks, Russians have been spreading fake videos to undermine the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris. One such video, which made false abuse accusations against her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, was identified by intelligence officials this week as being a Russian government operation.

In the same briefing, intelligence officials said Russia was planning to work to increase Americans’ doubts about the November election and potentially foment violence, stoking concerns about the integrity of the vote.

The fake video showing ballots being destroyed appears to be a first step in those efforts to raise voter concerns.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which helps local officials safeguard voting systems, has been holding regular briefings with officials about foreign efforts to influence the election, urging them to aggressively respond to attempts to spread disinformation about the integrity of the vote.

Russia has pushed a variety of videos during the election, some trying to undercut US support for Ukraine and others making more direct attacks on Democrats. Moscow’s attempts to spread disinformation initially appeared to have been knocked off-balance when President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and threw his support to Harris. But more recently, those efforts have focused on attacking Harris and Walz, and the pace of Russian activity began increasing in October, according to government and industry officials.