Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Arizona Ballots Spilling From Trash Cans — Scene Was In Australia Two Months Before US Midterm Elections

Old AU Video

Does a video show Arizona ballots falling out of trash can on an escalator, implying possible election fraud? No, that’s not true: The footage, taken in Australia, was uploaded two months before the November 2022 Arizona mid-term election. The 7-second clip is from a YouTube channel that publishes “funny, interesting and strange stuff.”

The claim appeared in a video published on Instagram on November 16, 2022. The caption opened:

#arizonaballots#arizonaelection #arizona#election2022

The accompanying text on the left-hand side of the video reads:

Is this Arizona? Is this why my ballot wasnt counted?

This is what the post looked like on Instagram at the time of the writing:

(Source: Instagram Screenshot taken on Mon Nov 21 17:34:27 2022 UTC)

The video seen in the post is from a September 13, 2022, YouTube video titled, “Man Makes a Huge Paper Mess on Escalator.” It was published by the channel “DailyPicksandFlicks,” which is self-described as a “viral videos, funny pictures, and odd news blog.” There is no indication or description in the YouTube video as to what the papers scattered on the escalator were, or where the incident occurred.

At 0:06 in the video, a store marquee can be seen in the background saying, “The Reject Shop.” A Google search using the keywords “Where Is The Reject Shop based?” stated the location is in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Reject Shop site store finder did not display any U.S. locations. A Google search using the keywords “2022 Arizona Ballots Spill On Escalator” produced no results to substantiate the implications of this claim.

The YouTube video was nearly two months old when the United States held its midterm elections on November 8, 2022.

Other Lead Stories fact checks about Arizona ballots in the 2022 election can be found here.

Lead Stories reached out to The Reject Shop to confirm the exact location of the store in the video is located and will update this story if a response is received.