On Tuesday, Americans in several states elected Democrats in key governor's and mayoral races. A video posted to X that day claimed to show Democrats using blank ballots for "scheming," indicating election fraud. The video shows a man confronting two women who he claims transported blank ballots in a taxi to fill in themselves. The video does not show U.S. Democrats or take place in California as some users claimed. It originated from Quebec, likely during Canada's federal election in April. When the video first surfaced in April, Elections Canada said safeguards were in place to ensure ballots are handled securely.
THE CLAIM
This week, a shared on the X platform, formerly Twitter, claimed to show "Democrat ladies … carrying around ballots in a taxi."
In the clip, a man confronts two women carrying large white bags that he claims contain ballots.Â
"I want to understand how these are just sitting on the street, how you took them into a taxi. And you guys, you just fill out anything you want and put them in the box?" the man asks.
Text overlaid on the video reads, "This is how dems use mail in and blank ballots for scheming...."Â
The post received around 400,000 views according to X's metrics and was reposted to , where the user claimed the video originated in California.
Posted early Tuesday, the video gained traction as Americans headed to the polls for multiple state and local elections that resulted in key Democrat wins, including for the mayor of New York City and governors of New Jersey and Virginia.
THE FACTS
Several signs are visible in the background of the video, including "Mega Vente" and the address "6900."
ºÃÉ«tvgeolocated the video to the Decarie Square mall in the Montreal suburb of Côte St-Luc.
Details from the Google Maps street view of the location like the Mega Vente banner, 6900 street address, Ailes store sign and yellow crosswalk lines match with the video.
It isn't clear who filmed the video or when it took place. The earliest version of the video the overlaid text is from X on this year, one day after Canada's federal election. The bags carried by the women appear to bear the Elections Canada logo.
In a to that X post, Elections Canada said there were safeguards in place to manage the custody of ballots and ballot boxes.Â
ºÃÉ«tvfact checked a similar video where a man confronted election workers who he claimed took home ballot boxes filled with advance votes. However, the boxes shown in the video were empty and Elections Canada disputed accusations of vote tampering.Â
"Deputy returning officers or central poll supervisors pick up the materials they require to set up the polls on election day from the local returning office where supplies are held," the agency told ºÃÉ«tvat the time.
"Supplies include things such as signage, feedback forms, and activity logs. They bring it home if they do not have access to the polling ahead of time, since some polling places are only leased for one day. The empty ballot boxes can be used to transport the materials."Â
U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently made about voter fraud in his country. This week he , without providing evidence, that California Republicans were "shut out" of mail-in voting and called the voting process "rigged."
SOURCES
Claim posted to Nov. 4, 2025 (, ) and Nov. 4, 2025 ()
Steve Peoples And Will Weissert. Democrats dominate as economic woes take a toll on Trump's GOP. Takeaways from Election Day 2025. The Associated Press via ºÃÉ«tvwebsite. Nov. 5, 2025 ()
Video without overlaid text caption posted to April 29, 2025 (, )
Elections Canada to post on X April 30, 2025 ()
Colleen Hale-Hodgson. Video shows poll workers taking empty ballot boxes home, not marked votes. ºÃÉ«tvFact Checking website. April 29, 2025 ()
Amy Sherman. Fact-checking Trump’s false claims about voter fraud and ‘rigged’ elections. PolitiFact via PBS News . Oct. 5, 2024 ()
Donald J. Trump post from Nov. 4, 2025 ()
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