The video does not show Philadelphia election officials allowing non-citizens to vote.

A two-minute election-eve video produced by a prominent conservative activist misleadingly claims to have evidence of illegal election activity in the swing state of Pennsylvania.

“Philadelphia City Commissioners Office Tells Non-Citizens They Can Vote If They Are Philadelphia Residents” read X’s post on November 4th from O’Keefe Media Group, created by founder and former Project Veritas executive James O’Keefe.

In the video, O’Keefe left Project Veritas in 2023 when his board of directors accused him spending donor funds on “personal luxuries” — said he was standing outside the Philadelphia City Commission office where people were voting early. Across the street, he said, people from Ceiba, a nonprofit that promotes economic development in Latino communities, had gathered.

“They’re encouraging people to vote,” O’Keefe said in the video, apparently referring to people associated with Ceiba. “They tell people that all you need is what’s called an (ITIN) number.”

He then showed footage that he said showed an undercover reporter receiving confirmation from a nonprofit and a county commissioner’s office employee that “she can only vote with an ITIN number” and “you only need to be a Philadelphia resident.”

“ITIN” refers to the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, a nine-digit number that the Internal Revenue Service issues to people filing tax returns who are not U.S. citizens and do not have or are not eligible to receive Social Security numbers.

The video has attracted the attention of several leading conservatives, including a conspiracy theorist. Alex Jonespresenting this as an example of election irregularities.

“This is a clear sign of an attempt to steal the election,” Jones wrote.

“URGENT: ELECTION FRAUD IN PENNSYLVANIA!” posted by another user X who shared the post.

But this video does not show evidence of non-citizen voting in federal elections. O’Keefe founded Project Veritas, a right-wing organization known for its undercover reporting and use of selectively edited videos. This video uses a similar format. (O’Keefe was sued in 2021 and, following a settlement earlier this year, apologized for falsely claiming that a postal worker committed voter fraud.)

Federal law requires voters to be U.S. citizens to vote in federal elections, and although a small number of municipalities across the country allow voting by non-citizens in local electionsPhiladelphia is not one of them.

“This message is false and completely unsupported by the facts,” Philadelphia City Commissioner Seth Bluestein, a Republican, wrote Nov. 4. on X, in response to O’Keefe’s video. “Non-citizens cannot vote in Philadelphia. A mail-in ballot provided by our office can only be counted after the voter verifies their identification, usually with a Social Security number or driver’s license number.”

Spokesman Kevin Feeley sent PolitiFact a statement from the Philadelphia city commissioners, which described the video as “selectively edited” and that it showed “an employee from one of our satellite elections offices explaining the requirements for voters.”

“Non-citizens cannot legally register to vote or vote anywhere in Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Seiba also addressed the video: letter Instagram said her organization “was targeted by an organized group of individuals who were recording our staff and falsely accusing us of registering non-citizens to vote.”

On the second Instagram statementCeiba added that one of its employees incorrectly answered a question about whether an ITIN could be used for voting. He said it was not consistent with his training or practice.

“We have reviewed this matter and will continue to support—as always—the integrity of our nation’s electoral system,” the statement said. “Additionally, there are checks and balances with both mail-in ballots and in-person voting that prevent a person from voting using an ITIN.”

Pennsylvania Voters who are voting for the first time in their constituencies must present identification and the ITIN number is not valid. ID card.

“The ITIN used to help non-citizens pay taxes is a separate number and cannot be used by someone to register to vote,” Ceiba said in a statement on Instagram.

When O’Keefe said Ceiba told people they could use ITINs to vote, he showed part of the flyer in Spanish on camera.

Ceiba CEO Will Gonzalez sent PolitiFact an ITIN brochure in both Spanish And English. Nowhere in the brochure does it say that the ITIN can be used for voting.

We rate the claim that this video shows “election fraud in Pennsylvania” as false.

CONNECTED: Non-citizen voting is already rare in local elections, but 8 states want to ban it