Fact check: Data disproves claim that two-thirds of eligible voters don't vote

Hannah Hudnall, USA TODAY
·3 min read
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People in privacy booths vote in next week's midterm election at an early voting polling site at Frank McCourt High School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City on Tuesday, November 1, 2022.

The claim: Two-thirds of eligible voters don't vote

People are using social media to encourage Americans to vote in the midterm elections. But some social media users are spreading false information as part of that effort, claiming most eligible voters don't vote.

A Nov. 2 Instagram post features a political cartoon in which people are wearing shirts that say, "I voted," while another larger group announces, "We didn't vote because it won't make a difference."

"Two-thirds of eligible voters don't vote," reads the text at the bottom of the image.

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The post garnered more than 60 likes in three days. A previous post garnered more than 13,000 likes in three days before it was deleted. Similar iterations have been shared on Facebook and Twitter.

The claim is false. Data provided by the U.S. Elections Project and its creator, Michael McDonald, shows that in recent years more than one-third of voters participated in midterm elections, while more than half participated in presidential elections.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment.

Data shows voter turnout is higher than posts claim

Data from the U.S. Elections Project, which provides statistics and research reports on the U.S. electoral system, shows even the low-turnout midterm election hasn't posted turnout as low as 33% since 1924, when access to voting was still severely limited.

Recent tallies have been far above that threshold.

The statistics provided on the Elections Project website show that turnout for midterm elections has remained between 37% and 50% of the voting-eligible population in recent decades, rising to between 54% and 62% for presidential elections.

The site reported that 66.6% of the voting-eligible population voted in the 2020 presidential election. This was the highest turnout in decades, according to USA TODAY.

While the turnout for the 2018 midterm elections was lower than that, McDonald told USA TODAY in an email it was still higher than the social media posts claim.

"About half of eligible voters participated in the 2018 midterm election," McDonald said. "I expect around 45% to participate in the 2022 election."

Fact check: 2020 presidential election results are still valid, Biden is legitimate winner

PolitiFact has debunked this claim as well.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that two-thirds of eligible voters don't vote. Data provided by the U.S. Elections Project shows that in recent years more than one-third of voters participated in midterm elections, while more than half participated in presidential elections.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: False claim that two-thirds of eligible voters don't vote