Votes for Jorgensen Didn’t Become Votes for Biden
The Claim
More than 40,000 votes for Libertarian Presidential nominee Jo Jorgensen became votes for Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Emerging story
During the 2020 U.S. presidential election, many on social media shared the claim alongside screenshots showing that Jorgensen’s vote count decreased by more than 40,000.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that the claim is unsubstantiated. The posts include two screenshots, one showing results in Pennsylvania with 56% reporting, and the other with 59% reporting. Jorgensen’s count does reduce by 42,038 between the two screenshots, but that does not mean that they became Biden votes. Both Trump and Biden’s votes increased by more than 100,000. Further, the data used in the screenshots does not come from official election page results. It appears to be from the Associated Press, but the screenshot and numbers do not appear in their election archive.
Jorgensen’s numbers in Pennsylvania concluded at around 76,425 - less than what the first screenshot shows. We could not find any official election number that had her at 89,025, the number shown in the screenshot. It seems highly likely that the screenshot was manipulated.
