Fact Check: The 2020 election was stolen.

Fact Check: "The 2020 election was stolen."

What We Know

Following the 2020 U.S. presidential election, former President Donald Trump and many of his supporters claimed that the election was "stolen" through widespread voter fraud. However, extensive investigations and analyses have consistently found no evidence to support these claims. A study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluded that the statistical claims made by Trump and his allies regarding election fraud were not convincing and often based on misconceptions about electoral data (source-1). The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) described the election as "the most secure in American history," further asserting that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud (source-3).

Moreover, a survey conducted shortly after the election indicated that a significant portion of Republican voters believed in the existence of fraudulent ballots and manipulated voting machines, despite the lack of credible evidence (source-2). Investigations into mail-in ballots, which were a focal point of Trump's claims, revealed that the incidence of fraud was extremely low, estimated between 0.0003% and 0.0025% (source-3).

Analysis

The claim that the 2020 election was stolen relies heavily on assertions of statistical anomalies and irregularities. However, the research conducted by Andrew C. Eggers and colleagues systematically debunked these claims. They found that many of the supposed anomalies cited by Trump supporters were either not factual or not anomalous when contextualized within historical voting patterns (source-1). For instance, claims regarding Biden's performance in bellwether counties were shown to be consistent with voting trends from previous elections, indicating that the results were not unexpected (source-1).

Additionally, the credibility of sources promoting the idea of a stolen election is often questionable. Many of these claims have been dismissed by courts and election officials, including Trump's own Attorney General, who stated there was no evidence of widespread fraud (source-8). The reliance on anecdotal evidence and unverified claims by figures like Mike Lindell further undermines the reliability of these assertions (source-7).

Conclusion

The claim that "the 2020 election was stolen" is False. Extensive research and investigations have shown no credible evidence of widespread voter fraud or manipulation that could have affected the election outcome. The assertions made by Trump and his supporters are largely based on misinterpretations of electoral data and unsupported claims, which have been consistently debunked by credible sources and analyses.