In the week following Election Day 2024, internet users shared a graphic comparing the total votes cast in each of the last six presidential elections. The graphic contains outdated information for the 2024 vote totals—which were still in the process of being counted when the graphic was first shared—but social media users have continued to share the image.
The graphic is missing context because votes were still being counted on November 7, and it understates the number of people who voted in the 2024 presidential election. Further, the posts slightly understate the vote totals for the elections preceding 2020. The post’s creator appears to have added together the vote totals from the two major party candidates, excluding votes cast for third party candidates, write-in selections, and those who left their presidential selection blank. The viral image, shared on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and X, stated:
2004 – 121,069,054 votes cast
2008 – 129,446,839 votes cast
2012 – 126,849,299 votes cast
2016 – 128,838,342 votes cast
2020 – 155,507,476 votes cast
2024 – 129,347,671 votes castNothing strange about that at all.
According to the University of California-Santa Barbara’s American Presidency Project—which compiles records of election data for each presidential election in U.S. history—here are the correct number of votes cast in each election from 2004 to 2024:
While slightly fewer Americans voted in 2024 than 2020, the margin is minimal, declining by about 2 percent. The incorrect viral graphic shows a nearly 17 percent drop in votes cast from the 2020 election to 2024.
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