Amid unsubstantiated claims of a rigged California primary, amplified by President Donald Trump, social media users shared an image of a blue-haired person in an all-black outfit, holding multiple pieces of folded paper in front of a ballot box.
“Do you still not believe California is using people to ballot harvest?” read a June 5 X post featuring the image. The same day, another X post said the image was taken at a ballot box in Glendale, California; and posts on Facebook and Threads with the image said it showed a “California voter” who “identifies” as many “different people.”
The image does not show a real incident or person; it was created using artificial intelligence. It contained the logo of Gemini, a Google AI tool, on the bottom right corner.
(The photo’s bottom right shows the logo of Gemini, a Google AI tool.)
When we uploaded the image to Gemini, it found that the image was “edited or generated with Google AI.” Images generated with Google’s AI tools contain SynthID, a digital watermark that is invisible to humans but detectable by Google’s technology.
(The text on the ballot box also featured warped letters and misspellings.)
We found no news reports or other evidence that this was a real incident.
Trump has falsely claimed that voting by mail is a way to cheat, but his claims about the use of drop boxes and ballot harvesting for fraud have been exaggerated.
California law outlines security measures for securing drop boxes; they are often placed in public locations, with constant video surveillance. The state allows voters to designate another person to return their ballots, while following requirements.
This image of a person stuffing ballot boxes in California is fake. We rate it Pants on Fire!
