An elections office in key presidential swing state Pennsylvania said a video circulating online this week purporting to depict the destruction of valid ballots is fake, and a prominent disinformation researcher claims a Russian influence actor is behind the effort.

The video appeared on X and other social media sites this week showing an unidentified individual opening envelopes with a Bucks County, Pennsylvania seal and an “Official Election Ballot” label and cursing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump before ripping up ballots with his name filled in. The video also depicts the person opening up ballots and then carefully placing them back in their envelopes after seeing they were “for Kamala,” referring to Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Bucks County Board of Elections quickly responded, putting out a bipartisan statement Thursday unequivocally calling the video a fake and noting that both the envelopes and other documents depicted in the video “are clearly not materials belonging to or distributed by the Bucks County Board of Elections.”

“This type of behavior is meant to sow division and distrust in our election systems, and make a mockery of the people working incredibly hard to ensure a free and fair election is carried out,” wrote board chair Bob Harvie, vice chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia and board member Gene DeGirolamo.

Meanwhile, a researcher and academic who first connected a manipulated video of a former student accusing...

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