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FACT BRIEF

Did Wisconsin have an ‘impossible’ 89% voter turnout in the 2020 election?

Tuesday, October 26, 2021
By Alexis Tereszcuk
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NO

Wisconsin counts voter turnout as a percentage of the entire voting-age population, not just a percentage of registered voters. Also, the state allows same-day voter registration, which changes the number of registered voters.

An online article questioning 2020 results in a state that went for Joe Biden over Donald Trump claimed Wisconsin had an 89% voter turnout in 2020 -- "an impossible number that still can't be explained," according to the article.

The article falsely determined that since 3.2 million people voted out of 3.6 million registered voters, that is an 89% voter turnout.

But the Wisconsin Elections Commission reported just under 3.3 million actual voters in a voting-age population estimated at just over 4.5 million for a turnout rate of slightly less than 73%, not 89%.

The three previous presidential races had similar voter turnout rates in Wisconsin, ranging from just over 70% in 2012 to just over 67% in 2016.

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
State of Wisconsin Wisconsin Voter Turnout Statistics
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Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.