Fact-check: Did 20 million Democratic votes ‘disappear’?

When Donald Trump mislaid his re-election bid successful 2020, galore Republicans — Trump included — made unsubstantiated claims of wide predetermination fraud. Now, pursuing Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 loss, immoderate of her wide supporters are taking to societal media to allege fraud.

“I spent my early profession successful machine information for nan Navy and NSA,” wrote Wayne Madsen, a writer known to dispersed conspiracy theories, successful a November 6 Threads post. “I’m opening to judge our predetermination was massively hacked conscionable for illustration happened a fewer weeks agone successful nan Republic of Georgia. Think Elon Musk, StarLink, Peter Thiel, [Steve] Bannon, [Michael] Flynn and [Vladimir] Putin. 20 cardinal Democratic votes don’t vanish connected their own.”

Another poster discouraged Harris from conceding nan election, likewise alleging predetermination discrepancies. “20 cardinal little votes than past election? 14 cardinal much votes for Trump complete Harris? Trump and those astir him were much than assured Trump would win,” publication nan November 6 Threads post. “We request an investigation. This predetermination was stolen.”

The Facebook, Instagram and Threads posts were flagged arsenic portion of Meta’s efforts to combat mendacious news and misinformation connected its News Feed.

These claims are inaccurate. There person been nary reliable allegations of predetermination fraud aliases grounds of votes that vanished during nan 2024 election.

On November 6, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly said that predetermination officials are still counting votes and reported nary incidents of compromised predetermination security.

“As we person said repeatedly, our predetermination infrastructure has ne'er been much unafraid and nan predetermination organization ne'er amended prepared to present safe, secure, free, and adjacent elections for nan American people,” Easterly said. “This is what we saw yesterday successful nan serene and unafraid workout of democracy. Importantly, we person nary grounds of immoderate malicious activity that had a worldly effect connected nan information aliases integrity of our predetermination infrastructure.”

Similarly, Ishan Mehta, head of media and populist astatine Common Cause, a nationalist defense group, said nan 2024 predetermination was safe, unafraid and “pretty smooth”.

He said Common Cause has thousands of volunteers successful each 50 states who monitored nan predetermination astatine polling sites and vote-counting centres. The group besides has a squad that monitors chatter astir voting connected societal media.

Because of that, Common Cause typically knows erstwhile predetermination issues originate — and those incidents typically extremity up being “some benignant of instrumentality aliases quality correction that we person systems to correct”, Mehta said.

Such incidents do not mean “the predetermination was hacked, aliases location has been immoderate benignant of nefarious activity to alteration immoderate Americans’ existent votes”, he said.

“There is nary grounds that immoderate votes disappeared,” aliases of different fraudulent activity during nan 2024 election, Mehta said. He besides said he knew of nary grounds of attempts — fto unsocial successful efforts — to “hack” aliases “steal” nan election.

Even if specified attempts occurred, they would fail, experts said.

“There is nary 1 ‘hack’ to alteration nan result of an predetermination aliases to alteration ballot totals,” Mehta said. “Each authorities has its ain independent, non-connected systems,” and predetermination workers are trained to tally elections and hole immoderate issues that originate and return that work seriously.

2024 elector turnout is still being calculated, but fluctuations don’t awesome fraud, experts say

Experts many times told PolitiFact that elector turnout ebbs and flows from predetermination to election.

Paul Gronke, a Reed College governmental subject professor, said factors specified arsenic enthusiasm for nan candidates, run efforts and an election’s competitiveness each impact elector turnout.

“If nan last results show that 20 cardinal less votes were formed for nan Democratic campaigner for President successful 2024 than successful 2020, what that indicates is that 20 cardinal voters made a determination not to formed a ballot, either not move retired astatine all, aliases not cheque nan apical contest,” Gronke said. “That’s nan extremity of nan story.”

Election denial is antidemocratic, said David Becker, nan executive head and laminitis of nan Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonpartisan group that useful pinch predetermination officials from some governmental parties to build spot successful elections.

“We will cognize nan afloat turnout erstwhile nan votes are certified by nan states, successful a fewer weeks,” he told PolitiFact. Becker pointed to data from nan University of Florida: “We’re connected way to person nan 2nd highest turnout successful votes successful US history, and nan second- aliases third-highest turnout successful percent since 18-year-olds were granted nan correct to vote,” he said.

As of 4pm connected November 7, Trump received 72.8 cardinal votes and Harris received astir 68 cardinal votes. In 2020, Trump received 74.2 cardinal votes and President Joe Biden received 81.2 million.

“Election officials, predetermination monitors, predetermination lawyers, partisan observers, non-partisan observers, and predetermination subject experts for illustration myself salary very adjacent attraction to elections astatine each level,” Gronke said. “There person been reports of a fewer glitches successful scattered locations. There is nary grounds astatine each of thing fraudulent, surely not connected nan benignant of standard being suggested here.”

Our ruling

Threads posts alleged predetermination fraud and said 20 cardinal Democratic votes “disappeared” successful 2024.

Election experts and nan Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency reported nary grounds of disappearing votes aliases wide fraud during nan 2024 statesmanlike election.

It is normal for elector turnout to up and down from predetermination to election, experts said.

We complaint these claims Pants connected Fire!