Weeks after major news outlets mentioned the presidential race for Joe Biden in 2020, it is said on social media that more votes were cast than residents in Milwaukee, Wis., Detroit, Mich., Lansing, Mich. In Pittsburgh, Pa. – four blue cities in battlefield states that eventually went to Biden. The messages provide accurate population estimates, but contain incorrect votes, and falsely claim irregular voting rights despite the fact that the Department of Justice found no evidence of widespread fraud in last month’s election.
Examples of placements that make the claim can be found here, here and here.
MILWAUKEE
The posts claim that the city of Milwaukee has 590,157 residents compared to 640,768 votes cast in the 2020 general election, meaning more than 108% of the population voted. The city is in Milwaukee County, where Biden (here) received 69.1% of the vote.
Although the census is the same as the July 2019 estimate provided here by the U.S. Census Bureau, the count of 640,768 is inaccurate.
As reported here by the Milwaukee Electoral Commission, 247,695 voters voted in the Nov. 3 general election. With 315,483 registered voters in the city, the turnout was 78.5%.
Contrary to what the posts claim, 42% of Milwaukee residents voted in the election.
DETROIT
The reports indicate that Detroit, with 672,662 residents and 850,441 votes, had a 126% turnout. The city of Detroit is located in Wayne County, where Biden (here) received 68.4% of the vote.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau in July 2019, Detroit’s population is 670,031 (here). It is possible that the estimate of the report comes from Data Commons, an online database for open data, which here says that Detroit’s population of 2018 was 672,662.
As for Detroit’s score, the 850,441 is wrong. The official election results presented here by the Detroit Department of Elections state that 257,619 out of 506,305 registered voters are voting, bringing the election to 50.9%.
As a result, 38% of Detroit’s population voted in the 2020 general election.
LANSING
The posts falsely claim that votes in Lansing exceeded the city’s population by almost 38,000. Lansing is mostly located in Ingham County, where Biden received 65.2% of the vote (here).
The U.S. Census Bureau voted the population of Lansing in July 2019 (here) at 118,210, on the same level as the 118,427 population of the posts likely to come from Data Commons (here).
However, the number of votes of 156,295 is almost three times the number.
Robin Stites, Electoral Officer at the Lansing City Clerk’s Office, told Reuters in an email that the Lansing City’s election for the November 3 election was 54,045 out of 88,873 registered voters, equivalent to a percentage of 60 , 81%.
Thus, 46% of Lansing’s population voted in the 2020 general election.
PITTSBURGH
Finally, the post claims that Pittsburgh cast 691,434 votes, which is more than double its population. The city of Pittsburgh is in Allegheny County, where Biden (here) received 59.4% of the vote.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau in July 2019 (here), the population of Pittsburgh is 300,286. The similar figure of 301,048 of the posts corresponds to that of Data Commons (here).
162,719 votes were cast in Pittsburgh, not 691,434.
This information can be found on the official election result page of Allegheny County (here) by scrolling to the “Reports” window in the right-hand column of the page and downloading the Excel file “Detail XLS”. On the first tab, labeled “Registered Voters”, you can filter Column A to show only Pittsburgh constituencies (rows 587 to 988) and then find the sum of the cells in Column F.
Similarly, the number of registered voters can be found by filtering to Pittsburgh constituencies and finding the sum of the cells in column A, which is equal to 239,845. As a result, Pittsburgh had 67.84% of the vote.
About 54% of Pittsburgh’s total population participated in the 2020 general election.
VERDICT
Untrue. Although the posts provide accurate population estimates for Milwaukee, Detroit, Lansing, and Pittsburgh, the number of votes is incorrect and several times higher than the actual numbers.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.