Georgia Secretary of State Says Video Alleging Voter Fraud Is Fake, Targeted Disinformation

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks at a news conference at the State Capitol in Atlanta on Nov. 6, 2020. Dustin Chambers/Reuters

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said on Oct. 31 that a video allegedly showing a Haitian immigrant claiming to have carried out voter fraud in the U.S. presidential election is fake and an example of targeted disinformation.

The 20-second video emerged on the social media platform X with just days to go until the Nov. 5 election and quickly went viral, with one post featuring the video garnering more than 830,000 views as of Nov. 1.

It appears to show a Haitian man with multiple Georgia IDs claiming to have illegally voted for Vice President Kamala Harris numerous times in the presidential race.

In a statement on X, Raffensperger, the top election official in Georgia, said his office was made aware of the video and believes it is likely Russian interference.

“This is false, and is an example of targeted disinformation we’ve seen this election,” Raffensperger said. “It is likely foreign interference attempting to sow discord and chaos on the eve of the eve of the 2024 Presidential election,” the Republican secretary of state said.

Raffensperger said his office is currently working with state and federal officials to track the origin of the video. He urged social media companies to remove the video from their platforms.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is currently investigating the alleged disinformation video, he said.

“This is obviously fake and part of a disinformation effort. Likely it is a production of Russian troll farms,” Raffensperger said. “As Americans we can’t let our enemies use lies to divide us and undermine our faith in institutions—or each other.”

“X found these posts to be violative of our Civic Integrity Policy and we are taking action against the posts,” a spokesperson for X told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

Georgia is one of seven key battleground states in the Nov. 5 election along with Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

The video shows a man sitting in the back of a vehicle alongside others whose faces cannot be seen on camera. The man said he came to the United States from Haiti six months ago and had already received his U.S. citizenship.

“We’re voting Kamala Harris. Yesterday, we voted in Gwinnett County, and today, we’re voting in Fulton County,” he says. “We have all our documents, driver’s license,” he adds while showing the camera what appears to be multiple IDs. “We invite all Haitians to come to America and bring families.”

U.S. intelligence officials have warned that Moscow’s efforts to influence the 2024 presidential election are becoming increasingly more sophisticated, with bad actors using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate divisive content.

Earlier this week, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which oversees the U.S. intelligence community (IC), issued a joint statement alongside CISA and the FBI declaring a video purporting to show someone ripping up ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Russian disinformation.

The agencies said it was an effort by the Russian government “to raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the U.S. election and stoke divisions among Americans.”

“In the lead up to election day and in the weeks and months after, the IC expects Russia to create and release additional media content that seeks to undermine trust in the integrity of the election and divide Americans,” the Oct. 25 statement read.

Last week, the National Intelligence Council released a security update warning that foreign adversaries—particularly Russia, Iran, and China—are ramping up election interference efforts in order to divide Americans and undermine their confidence in the U.S. democratic system.

Ryan Morgan contributed to this report.

Update: This article has been updated to include comment from X.