In the run-up to the January 5 Senate by-elections in Georgia, posts on social media claim that two state senators are counting the 2020 general ballots. This assertion is untrue: the image in the posts shows election workers in Pittsburgh. No state senator is in the picture, nor in Pennsylvania before, during or after the election.
Examples of postings that make this claim can be found here, here and here.
The reports appear on two images – one of two masked women counting election votes and one of two women, also masked, sitting in front of a small microphone. Despite similar haircuts, the women in the two images are not the same people.
The image above, taken from the footage by the Associated Press (here), shows two voice workers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 7th.
Meanwhile, the image below shows Georgia state legislators Elena Parent (here) and Jen Jordan (here), both Democrats, during a December 3 Senate hearing assessing the demands of President Donald Trump and his allies. Provided by WXIA-TV, Atlanta NBC affiliate, the full video of the trial is available here, with Parent and Jordan around the time stamp at 4:57:09 p.m.
The demands first appeared on social media in early December amid hearings by the Senate of the State reviewing the demands of President Donald Trump and his allies (here, here).
After allegedly receiving death threats for denying claims of widespread voting irregularities during the trials, Parent and Jordan appear in a CNN interview with Don Lemonhere).
Parent confirmed by email to Reuters that the allegations on social media are false. She said she was not portrayed in the film or photos of Pennsylvania, that she did not travel to Pennsylvania in 2020, and that she had never counted ballots in a state or local election.
In addition, the parent’s tweet of November 7, the day the AP survey was taken, included a geotag from Tucker, Georgia ( here , here , here ).
A spokeswoman for Jen Jordan also confirmed by email to Reuters that the state senator was not in the picture, that she did not count votes in Pennsylvania or any other state and that she did not run in, before or after the general election. Pennsylvania was not.
VERDICT
Untrue. This image does not show that two state legislators in Georgia are counting the ballots after the 2020 general election. It shows voice workers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.