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On 19 April 2016, Facebook user Chet Johnson published a video purportedly showing how Texas residents could get $10 worth of free gas by swiping their driver's licenses at the pump. (Later versions of this rumor expanded the giveaway to the entire United States.) According to Johnson, the free fuel was made available from campaign funds that were left over from the Texas primary: The post does not specify whose leftover campaign funds would be fueling this gas giveaway. Presidential candidate fundraising isn't divided up into primaries; candidates raise money throughout the election season and can use those funds at anytime during their campaign, which means there were no leftover campaign funds to give away after the Texas primary. Further, the Texas presidential primary is a small part of a national election. It's unclear how the state would be able to lay claim to campaign funds (from multiple candidates with their own individual finances) in the middle of an election season. So what happens to leftover campaign funds? According to the FEC, surplus funds can be used for a number of purposes, such as future elections or charitable donations: According to the Christian Science Monitor, personal use of campaign funds is expressly forbidden: This viral Facebook post has a few other questionable details. For example, the only time the video showed the price display was just after the driver's license had been swiped. At that time it read $10 pre-paid. It's likely that the person who made this video simply paid $10 inside the gas station, then returned to the pump and pretended that his credit was generated by a swipe of his driver's license. It should also be noted that a statewide giveaway based on leftover campaign funds would almost certainly make front page news, yet the only mention of this free $10 gas deal is on a Facebook page.
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