Were ballots from the 2020 election found shredded and trashed in Maricopa County, Arizona, as claimed in a published article?
By Dana Ford
Copy link
Copy featured image
NO
The ballots cast in that election are safely sealed and stored in a vault, according to the Maricopa County Elections Department.
An article published by The Gateway Pundit on March 6, 2021, claimed that "Piles of shredded ballots were located today in a dumpster in Maricopa County, Arizona ...only days before the (Arizona) Senate's audit of the county's 2020 election results is due to start."
A spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Elections Department said ballots from the November 2020 election are stored in a vault under the watch of a 24-7 camera. "Maricopa County has not, and would never destroy voted ballots until legally authorized to do so after the 24-month retention period," the spokeswoman said.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
