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What Really Happened to the 20 Million 'Missing Votes' in the 2024 Election

Michael Foust

In the days following the presidential election, individuals on both the Left and the Right have circulated graphics on social media alleging millions fewer voters than in 2020, hinting at potential fraud. But election experts say such allegations have a simple explanation: Millions of votes have yet to be counted. Individuals on the Left have circulated such graphics with “#TrumpCheated” hashtags, implying that 20 million votes are missing when compared to the total numbers from the 2020 election. 

Individuals on the Right have spread some of the same graphics, asserting that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. 

“Election denial is anti-democratic, whether it comes from the left or the right. No, 20 million votes aren’t missing,” David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Votes are still being counted in many states, incl millions in CA alone. Number of votes in 2024 very close to 2020, when all are reported.”

As of Thursday, California had yet to count more than 5 million ballots. A dozen or so states are still counting, partially because of the popularity of mail ballots, which can be mailed on Election Day in some states and still be part of the official tally when opened days later. 

One popular deceptive chart circulating on social media shows President-elect Donald Trump with about 71 million votes and Democrat Kamala Harris with 66 million, implying that the totals are far less than those in 2020. 

But in the days since that graphic was first posted, Trump has netted another 2.5 million, bringing his total to 73.5 million. Harris, similarly, is up to 69 million. 

Shayan Sardarizadeh, a senior journalist for the BBC, said both the Left and the Right “seem unaware that millions of votes are yet to be counted in several states.”

Author and Christian apologist Neil Shenvi says believers have a responsibility to not spread falsehoods.

“I again urge everyone to stop making arguments based on the premise that there are "20 million missing votes,” Shenvi wrote. “The votes are not yet fully counted.”

He added, “I've seen multiple analysts estimate that the total will be similar to 2020.”

It is poor logic, Shenvi wrote, to compare Harris’ 2024 totals to Biden’s 2020 numbers, since “tons of Biden 2020 voters switched to Trump in 2024.” According to exit polls, 6 percent of voters in 2024 who said they previously voted for Biden switched to Trump this year.  

“Biden got 15M more votes in 2020 than Clinton did in 2016,” he wrote. “But Trump also got 11M more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016. There was record voter turnout, and I suspect that 2024 turnout will be similar.”

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/richjem

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.