Following Donald Trump's win in the 2024 US presidential election, the hashtag #TrumpCheated has trended on social media. People have suggested foul play, and that millions of votes haven't been counted. But what do the facts say?
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00:00Did Trump cheat in the election?
00:02Many users on social media claim that a significant number of votes went uncounted,
00:07casting doubt on the results.
00:09Following Trump's win in the 2024 US presidential election,
00:12the hashtag TrumpCheated is trending as social media users suggest foul play in voting results.
00:19But what do the facts say?
00:21Some users claim that their vote hasn't been counted yet and thus
00:25the winner couldn't have been announced.
00:27This claim is false.
00:29Not all votes have to be counted to announce a winner.
00:32The US election is decided by a majority state by state.
00:36And each state has the authority to determine how its electoral votes are allocated.
00:42If the second place, in this case Kamala Harris,
00:44cannot catch up with any additional votes in a state,
00:47the winner for this single state can already be announced.
00:51As in many states, the system is the winner takes it all.
00:54It doesn't actually really matter if any single vote was counted or not
00:58because it's clear that he had the majority of the votes.
01:02In the US, when you vote for a presidential candidate,
01:05you are actually voting for your candidate's preferred electors.
01:09These electors then cast the official votes for the president in the electoral college.
01:15The presidential nominee with the majority of electoral votes
01:18becomes the president of the United States with at least 270 electoral votes.
01:25In this year's election, that's Donald Trump.
01:27In the US, the votes are counted in different ways.
01:30Some counties use optical scanners to process ballots,
01:34while others employ touchscreen systems or ballot marking devices.
01:39Scanners are the most common,
01:41and their results are then manually recounted and double-checked.
01:45Candidates, courts, or groups of voters can request recounts,
01:49but the rules vary significantly by state.
01:52Requests are typically made within three to seven days.
01:55So far, there has been no evidence that either Democrats or Republicans
02:00have manipulated this election.
02:02Back to why the electoral process is complicated in the US.
02:06The results that the public gets are a mix of preliminary data
02:10released by officials and projections by news agencies such as AP and Reuters.
02:17All states must certify their official results by December 11.
02:21Six days later, the electors cast their electoral votes.
02:26On January 6, 2025, the Congress will count and certify the electoral votes.
02:31Historically, voter fraud is extremely rare in the United States.
02:35Numerous studies and investigations have consistently shown
02:39that instances of voter fraud are minimal
02:42and do not impact the overall integrity of elections.
02:46So there is no evidence that Trump has cheated in this election.
02:51The electoral process leaves little room for manipulation,
02:54and Kamala Harris herself has conceded defeat to Donald Trump.
02:58If you see more false or misleading claims,
03:01you can write us in the comment section or via email to factchecking at dw.com.