Fake News: Postal Worker Caught Destroying Absentee Trump Ballots in Major Swing State
A postal worker decided to post a tweet on October 16th, something that would spark up attention. (@randygdub) went on to say in a post, “I love working at the post office in Colombus, Ohio and ripping up absentee ballots that vote for trump”. This tweet was trending and quickly caught the attention of other news media. Many Twitter users began to retweet randys tweets, even though there wasn’t any evidence of torn-up ballots. After further research and evaluation, this tweet was able to be confirmed that this was just a hoax and part of fake news.
The Twitter user @randygdub aside from the first tweet of the ripping of the ballots, @randgdub also went on to post another tweet on social media. This time it was a photo of real mail-in ballots with the caption, “Warn all your Trump supporters he not winning Ohio…Im taking these ballots to the dumpster…Post officers unite!!! (sic).” The tweet was obtained my NBC 26 Green Bay. This tweet by raandy was posted on several social media’s including facebook, twitter, and other fake news sources.
After several other social media sources reposted the trending tweet, more well known vogers continued to pass on the message of the torn up ballots. The Gateway Pundit received the tweet and decided to volg about it, which gained the attention of The drudge Report and Rush Limbaugh. They then broadcasted raandy’s tweet to millions of their followers, which also caused their followers to believe this false information.
Research Results
The tweet above was confirmed to be fake by the “Washinton Post”. The USPS conducted an investigation regarding @randygdub tweet about the ripping of trump ballots. Where it was later confirmed as fake news in a tweet by the USPS, “does not believe these tweets were made by a postal employee.” The USPS never received a response from the jokester raandy but, another media source was able to receive a response from @randygdub after they asked the question if raandy was really a postal service employee. @randygdub replied “lol no” in a tweet to the Daily Beast.
It is nearly impossible to determine if a ballot is in favor of Trump or Biden, as Franklin County Board of Elections and the Ohio Secretary of State’s Elections division responded when asked about the incident of the ripping of the ballots. “Absentee ballots are enclosed in not one but two secrecy envelopes, making it impossible for postal workers to identify Trump votes without opening envelopes”, as said from a statement from the Board of Elections. This evidence adds to the assurance that the viral tweet was simply a fake rumor that sparked the attention of the media.
This election was filled with many types of election fraud and interruptions. One being the Russian cyberattacks and now by a fake USPS worker who claimed to be ripping up trump ballots. Many sources online can have inaccurate information about something. Its always better to recheck your information and where you got it from. As a result from extensive research and examination, it has come to attention that @randygdub is just another example of fake news and unreliable sources.
Works Cited
“FALSE: Postal Worker Caught Destroying Absentee Trump Ballots in Major Swing State.” Snopes.com, 18 Oct. 2016, www.snopes.com/fact-check/postal-worker-caught-destroying-absentee-trump-ballots-in-major-swing-state/.
“Tweet Bragging About Ripping Up Trump Ballots Turns Out To Be Prank.” CBS Los Angeles — KCAL9 and CBS2 News, Sports, and Weather, 18 Oct. 2016, losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/10/18/tweet-bragging-about-ripping-up-trump-ballots-turns-out-to-be-prank/.
“USPS: Our Workers Are Not Tossing Trump Ballots.” WGBA, 18 Oct. 2016, www.nbc26.com/news/national/usps-says-ohio-postal-workers-are-not-destroying-trump-absentee-ballots-after-tweet-goes-viral.
The Washington Post, 19 Oct. 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/10/19/what-was-fake-on-the-internet-this-election-postal-workers-and-repealthe19th/.
