Viral video doesn’t show ‘illegal voters’ cutting the line in Pennsylvania

In late October, a video posted on X claiming to show a group of “illegal voters” cutting the line at an early voting site in Pennsylvania went viral. The video shows a group of people walking past a long line before they stop to briefly speak with a woman.

“Look at this BS in Pennsylvania... swing state... it figures,” the video’s caption says. “BUSSES of non-english speaking ‘citizens’ are guided past Americans who had been waiting in line for hours to cast their early votes.”

Tech billionaire Elon Musk commented on the post and asked, “Is this for real?”

THE QUESTION

Does this video show “illegal voters” cutting the line in Pennsylvania?

THE SOURCES

THE ANSWER

No, this video does not show “illegal voters” cutting the line in Pennsylvania.

WHAT WE FOUND

The viral video posted on X does not show a group of “illegal voters” cutting the line to vote early in Pennsylvania. Instead, the video shows a group walking past a line at a satellite voting location in Allegheny County seeking a translator and assistance for eligible elderly and disabled voters as they applied for mail-in ballots. Elderly and disabled people and those who need language support are entitled to special assistance at voting locations in Pennsylvania.

In an Oct. 30 statement, Allegheny County election officials said the group of voters seen in the video came to the South Park satellite election office in the borough of Bethel Park on Saturday, Oct. 26 “to apply for mail in ballots and needed the assistance of translators.”

While there, election officials say the group of voters and their translators briefly had a conversation with a county employee. This conversation can be seen in the viral video.

Election officials say the county employee provided instructions that elderly and disabled members of the group were allowed to sit while they waited for their mail-in ballot applications to process. This is an accommodation offered to all elderly and disabled voters at Allegheny County satellite election offices, according to the statement.

“The able-bodied voters returned to the back of the line,” the statement says. “Elderly and disabled voters were permitted to sit and wait their turn, and those who needed the assistance of a translator were able to use their translator to help them through the process.”

In the statement, election officials noted that the deadline to register to vote in Pennsylvania was Oct. 21, five days prior to the incident, so anyone requesting a mail-in ballot after the deadline would have only received one if they were already registered to vote. Only U.S. citizens are allowed to register to vote in Pennsylvania. Noncitizens are not allowed to vote in any federal election.

Al Schmidt, Pennsylvania’s top state election official, addressed the sheer volume of misinformation circulating in the state ahead of Election Day in a media briefing on Oct. 30, a day after the viral video was posted on X.

“Over the past 24 hours, we’ve seen several videos shared widely online that lacked proper context or were inaccurate, leading to false narratives,” Schmidt said. “It’s critical that at this juncture in the election cycle, voters get their information from trusted sources.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.