Voters in New York Didn’t Receive Pre-Marked Ballots for Biden

Zach Rathner

Politics

3rd November 2020

Voters in New York Didn’t Receive Pre-Marked Ballots for Biden

The ballot in question was sent by a voter in the wrong envelope (Getty Images).

The Claim

Some New York City residents received ballots already filled out for Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden.

News posted on

Emerging story

In October 2020, rumors began circulating on Twitter that some residents in Queens Village, New York received ballots that had been already filled out for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and other Democratic candidates.

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Users across social media continued to push this claim.

The official Twitter for the New York City Board of Elections disputed the allegation.

Misbar’s Analysis

The Misbar team has determined that this claim is false. The rumor of this alleged voter fraud began with a tweet from freelance journalist Jake Novak. A subsequent tweet from Novak showed a video that showed a ballot, complete with the voter ID of the voter, filled out for every Democratic candidate and said that it must have been marked using a stamper or a machine: “No human being could be that perfect with filling in all the blanks.”

Election officials confirmed that the ballot in question had been sent to the appropriate absentee voter in California, who filled it out himself. That voter then used the wrong envelope to mail his ballot back in, which sent it to his previous address in Queens instead of to the appropriate officials.

A tweet from the New York City Board of Elections stated what actually occurred. It was later reported that the freelance journalist who made the allegation is unsure about the validity of his source.