Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Unauthorized Person Receiving Mail-In Ballots In Somerset, Massachusetts
Does a video show an unauthorized person being given mail-in ballots in Somerset, Massachusetts? No, that’s not true: The clip shows the assistant town clerk transferring the ballots to the registrar. The Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts told Lead Stories that “nothing” in the video “appears to be contrary to any state election laws or regulations.”
The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) published on X, formerly Twitter, on October 22, 2024. The video’s caption said:
Holy Unsecure Election!!
The Somerset, MA elections clerk handed a random person a stack of MAIL IN BALLOTS!
Without election integrity, we have nothing.
This is what the post and video looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Thu Oct 24 16:01:32 2024 UTC)
The post provided no additional evidence to support its assertion that a person without proper authorization was being handed mail-in ballots. Debra O’Malley, communications director for the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, told Lead Stories in an October 24, 2024, email that nothing inappropriate was taking place, and that the scene occurred on the day of the state primary election, September 3, 2024.
Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
O’Malley sent a statement from the state agency to Lead Stories. The statement opens:
We are aware of this video, which shows the assistant clerk handing mail-in ballots to a Registrar of Voters for transport to the appropriate polling place to be counted on the day of our State Primary. Ballots received by drop box or by mail on the day of the election must be sent to the voter’s polling place to be counted, so that election officials can cross-reference the voter list to ensure the voter has not already voted in person. This is a security feature to ensure no person votes more than once. Nothing about this interaction appears to be contrary to any state election laws or regulations.
The Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth administers elections in Massachusetts. O’Malley’s statement continues:
State law does not specify who may transport ballots to and from the polling location on Election Day, however, this is typically done by the town clerk, registrars, assistant registrars, or police officers assisting the clerk on Election Day. If the clerk is not the person transporting the ballots, this office recommends that the clerk be aware of the chain of custody at all times. For instance, the clerk [in Somerset] charged the assistant clerk with transferring the ballots to the registrar, who then transferred them to the warden of the polling location.
O’Malley noted that “all ballots are sealed in tamper-evident envelopes until they are opened in public.” She explained the process:
Before being counted, the names and addresses on the envelope must be read aloud for any observers in the polling location, the names must be marked off on the voting list, and only then are the envelopes opened and the ballots counted.
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Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims related to the 2024 U.S. general election and other elections are here.
