FACT CHECK: Was Georgia Democratic Senator Elena Parent Counting Votes in Pennsylvania?

Both Georgia and Pennsylvania were won by Democratic candidate Joe Biden.

President Donald Trump still believes that voter fraud cost him the US Election. And he has innumerable supporters who back him in his claims. One of the recent claims has been that Georgia Senator Elena Parent was seen counting votes in Pennsylvania. A video and photograph have been doing the rounds on social media where a woman, allegedly Parent, can be seen counting the votes.

While many of Trump's supporters have been claiming that the woman in the video is none other than Parent and have alleged voter fraud, many have questioned the authenticity of the photograph and the woman in it. This has sparked a debate on social media over the past few days.

Surprise Photograph

Facebook

A few days back the video and photograph started doing the rounds on social media purportedly showing Parent counting votes in Pennsylvania. The video was accompanied by a post "State Senator Elena Parent of Georgia is seen here counting ballots in Pa? Not sure that's lawful Senator ..." And post came with the remark: "Elena Parent, Democratic Senator, why are you opening ballots and in counting rooms? I didn't know a senators job description was to work in election counting rooms?"

The video and photo immediately went viral. And there are reasons behind that. Both Georgia and Pennsylvania were won by Democrat nominee Joe Biden. Moreover, Trump had especially targeted these two states and challenged that there was extensive voter fraud involved, which cost him the sets in Georgia and Pennsylvania.

He even filed lawsuits asking for a recount which although were turned down after Parent, as member of the Georgia's Senate Judiciary Committee, rubbished Trump's claims saying that the voting process was fair.

Who's The Woman in the Photo?

Elena Parent
Georgia Sen. Elena Parent Georgia State Senate

Naturally, this gave rise to more curiosity and doubt in the mind of social media users who started suspecting that Trump's claims may not be all false. However, further probe revealed that the woman in the video was not Parent. Neither was she in Pennsylvania nor was she anyway involved in vote counting process.

The revelation was made after Parent came across the video and sent an email to AP, clarifying that it was not her photograph. She also clarified that she wasn't even in Pennsylvania on that day and the claims are false and is being done because she argued against Trump's claims of voter fraud in Georgia.

That said, the woman, whose identity is not known, has a stark resemblance with Parent. The woman is just one of the many electoral officials deputed to count the votes and was doing her job. Anyone who has seen the video or photograph might get confused at the first go.

This is exactly what happened with the social media users and Trump's supporters used this as an opportunity to spread misinformation. In fact, the video is still in circulation. One the other hand, no credible photograph shows Parent counting votes several hundred miles from her home in Pennsylvania.

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