Massive Michigan vote totals from formatting error, not extra votes | Fact check

The claim: 115,000 Michigan voters cast almost 280,000 ballots in 2024 election

An Oct. 30 post on X, formerly Twitter (direct link, archive link) includes a picture of a record showing the same voter identification number in a Michigan database listed alongside 29 different addresses, each with an indication that a vote had been cast.“After reviewing the Qualified Voter File – QVF – of votes actually cast as of yesterday, Oct 29, 2024, the database identifies 114,545 Michigan voters who have cast 279,113 ballots from multiple addresses across the state,” reads the post by Matthew DePerno, who ran unsuccessfully as the 2022 GOP nominee for Michigan attorney general. “This results in 164,568 excess ballots as of 10/29/2024.”

The post was reposted more than 28,000 times in a week and a half. Similar claims were also found on Facebook.

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Our rating: False

There were not tens of thousands of additional votes in Michigan. The claim is based on a formatting error in a data file, according to the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office. The office corrected the formatting and said each voter identified only had one vote recorded in this election.

Report formatting creates confusion over voters who moved

Michigan maintains a large database known as a qualified voter file, tracking individuals’ registration status and whether they have voted. Anyone can request information from the file, although contact information, birthdates and other sensitive information is not released to the public.

That file is at the heart of the claim of tens of thousands of additional votes. But the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office said the claim that thousands of people voted multiple times is false.

“A recent social media post has taken a data report that included formatting errors to incorrectly claim that individual voters were casting multiple ballots in this election,” the secretary of state’s office wrote in a post on Facebook. “The error has been identified and corrected. Each of these voters only had one vote recorded for this election.”

The state addresses the error in more detail on its Election Fact Center, explaining that the error came in exporting the database into a publicly releasable file. That process created a line for every prior address recorded for each voter. If a voter had cast a ballot in the 2024 election before the report was run, that was noted next to each address.

Republican National Committee Co-Chair Lara Trump said on X the committee also looked into the claim and agreed no extra votes were shown in the report.

“Our election integrity team received reports of thousands of duplicate ballots in Michigan,” she wrote. “We immediately investigated and have CONFIRMED that it was a glitch in the system – these duplicates were not and WILL NOT BE COUNTED. We are on it and protecting the vote!”

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DePerno, who also ran for state Supreme Court before dropping out of the race before the GOP convention in August, gained a following in Michigan for questioning the fairness and accuracy of results during the 2020 election. He is also awaiting trial on charges for allegedly scheming to breach voting machines.

USA TODAY reached out to DePerno through his website for comment but did not immediately receive a response. He did tell the Detroit Free Press that he thought Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson should be the one answering questions about the report.

“Either there is voter fraud happening or she’s incompetent and cannot manage the (qualified voter file). … I’m not saying what the data means, only what the data is,” he told the Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. “She has to explain it.”

President-elect Donald Trump won Michigan by over 80,000 votes in 2024, according to The Associated Press.

USA TODAY reached out to the other social media users who shared the claim for comment but similarly did not receive responses.

Reuters and AFP also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources

• Michigan Department of State, accessed Nov. 8, Election Fact Center

• Michigan Secretary of State, Oct. 30, Post on Facebook

• Lara Trump, Oct. 30, Post on X

• Detroit Free Press, Oct. 31, Conservative activists seize on 'formatting error' in Michigan voter data

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Report shows voters who moved, not who voted repeatedly | Fact check