(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Pennsylvania’s Democrat lieutenant governor and newly-anointed US Senate candidate, John Fetterman, may have broken the law by bribing his Twitter followers to vote.
In a now-deleted tweet, Fetterman asked people to “Bank your ballot” while asking individuals proof of their vote as entry into a contest to win a “Sheetz” gift card, 100 Percent Fed Up reported.
Sheetz—an Altoona, Pa.-based gas-station and convenience store—is popular along the mid-Atlantic coastal states and others that share a border with Pennsylvania.
“I want ALL the @’s [all Twitter accounts begin with @] in my TL, [Timeline on Twitter],” Fetterman wrote, while appearing to ask for evidence that voters had cast their ballots.
“BANK YOUR BALLOT PA,” he wrote. “Let’s see you bank them.”
In addition to the gift card, Fetterman said he was offering “scratch-off” lottery tickets to remind voters that “you can gamble in PA but are a criminal if you sip some weed.”
A response to the tweet, one user let Fetterman know that he would “go back and enter from a few weeks ago,” attaching a picture of himself holding his mail-in ballot.
Two more voters replied to Fetterman with evidence of voting to claim their lottery tickets.
In Pennsylvania, it is a felony offense to give, promise or offer to give a voter any money, reward or other valuable consideration for their vote.
According to the Justice Deptartment, buying votes in an election where a federal candidate’s name appears on the ballot is also a federal crime.
Historically, Fetterman has also been an advocate for voting dropboxes, mentioning them in several tweets.
Curiously, during the lockdown, he encouraged people to use them in-person.
“Trust it” and “Bank them” are some other terms he repeats constantly.
Fetterman has been questioned for his ethics before, after having received thousands in campaign contributions from a corrupt union in 2021.
