Video does not show Philadelphia voting officials allowing noncitizens to vote

An election eve two-minute video made by a well-known conservative activist misleadingly claimed to have proof of illegal voting activity in the swing state of Pennsylvania.

"Philadelphia city commissioners’ office tells non-citizens they can vote if they are Philly residents," read a Nov. 4 X post from O’Keefe Media Group, the creation of founder and former Project Veritas leader James O’Keefe.

In the video, O’Keefe — who left Project Veritas in 2023 when its board accused him of spending donor funds on "personal luxuries"  — said he was standing outside a Philadelphia city commissioners’ office, where people were early voting. Across the street, he said, was a gathering of people from Ceiba, a nonprofit promoting economic development in Latino communities.

"They are telling people to vote," O’Keefe said in the video, appearing to refer to people associated with Ceiba. "They are telling people that all you need is what is called an (ITIN) number."

He then showed footage that he said showed an undercover reporter getting confirmation from the nonprofit and a county commissioner’s office worker that "she can vote with nothing but an ITIN number" and "you only need to be a resident of Philadelphia."

"ITIN" refers to an individual taxpayer identification number, a nine-digit number the Internal Revenue Service issues to people filing tax returns who are not U.S. citizens and who do not have or are not eligible for Social Security numbers.

The video gained traction on X, with several leading conservatives, including conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, amplifying it as an example of election misconduct.

"This is the smoking gun of attempted election theft," Jones wrote.

"BREAKING: PENNSYLVANIA ELECTION FRAUD!" wrote another X user who shared the post.

But this video does not show proof of noncitizen voting in the federal election. O’Keefe founded Project Veritas, a right-wing organization known for doing undercover reporting and using selectively edited videos. This video used a similar format. (O’Keefe was sued in 2021 and, following a settlement earlier this year, apologized for falsely claiming a postal worker committed voter fraud.)

Federal law requires voters be U.S. citizens to vote in federal elections, and although a small number of municipalities nationwide permit noncitizen voting in local races, Philadelphia is not among them.

"This report is incorrect and not supported at all by the facts," Philadelphia City Commissioner Seth Bluestein, a Republican, wrote Nov. 4  on X, responding to the O’Keefe video. "Non-citizens are not eligible to vote in Philadelphia. A mail ballot provided by our office can only be counted after the voter verifies their ID, typically with a social security number or driver’s license number."

Spokesperson Kevin Feeley sent PolitiFact a statement from the Philadelphia City Commissioners that described the video as "selectively edited" and said it showed "a staffer at one of our Satellite Elections offices explaining voter eligibility requirements."

"Noncitizens may not legally register to vote or cast a ballot anywhere in Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia," the spokesperson’s statement said.

Ceiba also addressed the video, writing on Instagram that its organization was "targeted by an organized group of individuals who recorded our staff, and falsely accused us of registering non-citizens to vote."

In a second Instagram statement, Ceiba added that one of its staff members incorrectly answered a question about whether ITINs can be used to vote. It said that does not align with its training or practice.

Featured Fact-check

Threads posts

stated on October 21, 2024 in a Threads post

Donald Trump offered “food for everyone” at his McDonald’s press conference and then left without paying.

"We have addressed the matter and we will continue to uphold — as we always have — the integrity of our country’s voting system," the post said. "Additionally, there is a system of checks and balances — with both mail ballots and in person voting that prevent a person from being able to vote using an ITIN."

Pennsylvania voters who are voting for the first time in their election districts must show proof of identification, and an ITIN is not a valid proof of identity.

"The ITIN, used to help noncitizens to pay their taxes, is a distinct number and it is impossible for someone to use it to register to vote," Ceiba’s Instagram statement said.

As O’Keefe claimed Ceiba told people they could use ITIN numbers to vote, he showed a portion of a Spanish-language flier to the camera.

Ceiba Executive Director Will Gonzalez sent PolitiFact the ITIN brochure in both Spanish and English. Nowhere on the brochure does it say an ITIN can be used to vote.

We rate the claim that this video shows "Pennsylvania election fraud" False.

RELATED: Noncitizen voting is already rare in local elections, but 8 states want to ban it