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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on February 26, 2021 in a viral image: “America has 133 million registered voters,” but “159 million votes” were cast in the 2020 presidential election. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") * Elections * Facebook Fact-checks * Facebook posts ![\\"Voters](\\" Voters wait in line to fill out a ballot on the last day of early absentee voting before the general election at the Northwest Activities Center in Detroit, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. (AP) ![\\"Tom](\\" By Tom Kertscher March 1, 2021 # No, there weren’t more votes than registered voters in the 2020 election #### If Your Time is short * Experts say as many as 215 million voters were registered for the 2020 election. * That far outnumbers the 159 million ballots cast. See the sources for this fact-check An image widely shared on Facebook suggested that 26 million votes were fraudulently cast in the 2020 presidential election. It’s wrong. It grossly understates the number of registered voters. The image depicts a classroom in which a white student asks a question and a Black teacher responds: \"America has 133 million registered voters. How could 159 million votes be cast?\" \"That’s not important. What’s important is that you’re a racist.\" The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The number of registered voters is difficult to pinpoint — each state manages its own voter rolls, and with different rules; and the numbers change as voters register, move to another state or die. Some states allow voters to register on Election Day. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on September 5, 2024 in a post Video shows Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz dancing to Beyoncé in a cowboy hat and crop top. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Sara Swann • September 6, 2024 But experts put the figure for the 2020 election at well above 200 million, or far more than the 159 million ballots that were cast. Registered voters David Becker, executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, told PolitiFact there were nearly 215 million registered voters in 2020. World Population Review estimated 213.8 million. That was based on counts done in each state, and those counts were done at different times during the year, ranging from March 1, 2020, to Nov. 4, 2020, the day after the election. Estimates made by experts quoted by the Associated Press ranged from 195 million to 215 million. Ballots cast and counted According to the United States Election Project, which is run by University of Florida political science professor Michael McDonald, 159,690,457 ballots were counted in the November election, including 158,254,475 that contained votes for president. The project is \"the gold standard of turnout statistics,\" said Charles Stewart, founding director of the MIT Election Data Science Lab. Another sign that the 133 million figure for registered voters is way off: In the 2016 election, according to the Florida project, 138,846,571 ballots were cast, including 136,753,936 for president. We rate the statement False. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Facebook post, Feb. 26, 2021 USA Today, \"Fact check: Over 159 million people voted in the US general election,\" Dec. 31, 2020 Snopes, \"Does ‘Simple Math’ Show Biden Received More Votes Than Eligible Voters?\", Dec. 31, 2020 PolitiFact, \"Bogus analysis leads to ridiculous claim about Biden votes,\" Dec. 23, 2020 Email, David Becker, executive Director and founder, Center for Election Innovation and Research, March 1, 2021 Email, MIT Election Data Science Lab founding director Charles Stewart, March 1, 2021 Email, National Association of State Election Directors executive director Amy Cohen, March 1, 2021 United States Election Project, \"2020 November General Election Turnout Rates,\" Dec. 7, 2020 United States Election Project, \"2016 November General Election Turnout Rates,\" Sept. 5, 2018 Reuters, \"Fact check: ‘133 million registered voters’ argument uses flawed logic,\" Jan. 1, 2021 WTHR.com, \"VERIFY: Were there more votes cast in the 2020 election than registered voters?\", Jan. 2, 2021 Associated Press, \"Posts falsely claim there are only 133 million registered voters in the US,\" Jan 2, 2021 World Population Review, \"Number Of Registered Voters by State 2021,\" accessed March 1, 2021 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Tom Kertscher slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 19, 2023 in an Instagram post: A wind turbine must “spin continually for over four years just to replace the energy it took to manufacture it.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 28, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on July 15, 2023 in un video en TikTok: \"Biden elimina ‘tráfico sexual de menores’ como una de las prioridades del Departamento de Justicia de su gobierno”. 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children.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 9, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on June 22, 2023 in a post: A new law allows people to permanently erase unpaid debt older than two years from their credit records. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 1, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 28, 2023 in a video: “Skin cancer is a relatively new phenomenon in the last 60 years or so.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 1, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on July 26, 2023 in a Facebook post: Says Bill Gates said, “We’re taking things that are genetically modified organisms, and we’re injecting them into little kids’ arms” in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 31, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 19, 2023 in an Instagram post: A wind turbine must “spin continually for over four years just to replace the energy it took to manufacture it.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 28, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on July 15, 2023 in un video en TikTok: \"Biden elimina ‘tráfico sexual de menores’ como una de las prioridades del Departamento de Justicia de su gobierno”. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Briceño • July 25, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 17, 2023 in an Instagram post: \"Florida to ban mRNA vaccines as credible evidence of biological weapons.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • July 18, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 26, 2023 in a Facebook post: Video suggests Canada wildfires were deliberately set to advance “smart cities” push. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 30, 2023 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 26, 2023 in a video: Women vaccinated against COVID-19 face \"unknown side effects that could perpetually go down through the lineage\" to their children. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 29, 2023 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on August 25, 2023 in a Facebook post: As of Aug. 25, \"Luis Rubiales has resigned as the president of the Spanish Football Federation.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Tom Kertscher • August 29, 2023 ### No, there weren’t more votes than registered voters in the 2020 election * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral 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administration blocked 300,000 unvetted Haitian migrants from being deported out of our country.\" ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • September 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 30, 2024 in an X post: Photo shows President Joe Biden lounging on the beach \"while towns all over America were being wiped out” by Hurricane Helene. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Samantha Putterman • September 30, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Social Media stated on September 30, 2024 in in social media posts: “Biden Announces: ‘2.4 billion more to Ukraine’ but ‘no more aid for Hurricane Helene.’” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 30, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. 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America has 133 million registered voters but 159 million votes were cast in the 2020 presidential election