FACT CHECK: Did Biden Win 100% of a ‘Ballot Dump’ in Michigan?

Biden Ballot Dump Michigan

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Did Joe Biden receive 100% of a “ballot dump” in Michigan on Wednesday morning? Some conservatives, including President Donald Trump, are making the claim. Trump supporters posted two screenshots of a Decision Desk HQ election results map and claimed it showed a jump of more than 128,000 votes to Biden in Michigan, while Trump and the other candidates stayed at previous totals. But the photo being shared on Twitter is misinformation. It actually shows a data correction by Decision Desk HQ that came after an error in the vote totals sent by the state of Michigan.

UPDATE: On Wednesday afternoon, CNN called Michigan for Biden. Biden now has 253 electoral votes. Subsequent expected victories in Arizona and Nevada could clench the presidency for him.

Here’s what happened earlier on Wednesday.

Shortly after Biden took the lead in Michigan on Wednesday morning, some conservative pundits began to cry foul at what Trump called a “surprise ballot dump,” in which Biden received 100% of the new ballots flooding into the count. Trump retweeted a tweet by Matt Mackowiak, a conservative columnist, in which this apparent discrepancy was highlighted.

Mackowiak tweeted, “An update gives Biden 100% of new votes — 128k+” Conservative writer Matt Walsh retweeted the Mackowiak tweet and added, “This is reason enough to go to court. No honest person can look at this and say it’s normal and unconcerning.” Trump then joined in, retweeting the screenshots and saying, “WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT?” Twitter has covered all three tweets, adding a message saying, “Some or all of the content shared in this Tweet is disputed and might be misleading about an election or other civic process.”

Mackowiak later deleted the tweet and said, “This tweet was taken and share honestly. I have now learned the MI update referenced was a typo in one county. I have deleted the original tweet.” The screenshots originally claimed to show a 138,339 influx of votes only to Biden.

Trump earlier tweeted, “How come every time they count Mail-In ballot dumps they are so devastating in their percentage and power of destruction?”

So what’s the deal with the “ballot dump?” Did Biden win 100% of the votes in one dump of ballots for Michigan? Is that even possible?

Here’s what you need to know:


No, Biden Did Not Win 100% of Any ‘Ballot Dump’ in Michigan

 

No, Biden did not win more than 128,000 straight ballots in a single “ballot dump.” Biden’s total actually dropped because Decision Desk HQ found, and then corrected, an error in their data, the company said.

In the midst of that correction, someone switched the trajectory of these voting screenshots, making it look like Biden gained over 128,000 votes in a single ballot dump, when in actuality he “lost” those votes, because Decision Desk HQ was correcting an error from the state data in which Biden was erroneously assigned too many votes.

Decision Desk HQ president Drew McCoy told Heavy, “It was a simple error from a file created by the state that we ingested. DDHQ does not correct/amend/adjust any state provided file. The state noticed the error and produced an updated count. This happens quite a bit on election night and we expect other vote tabulators in Michigan experienced this error and corrected in real-time like we did.”

Decision Desk HQ has an ongoing thread for Michigan’s officially updated results, and both candidates’ results have changed with each official tweet update for the state. You should follow that thread for the most up to date results in any state. Heavy has partnered with Decision Desk HQ to provide readers with live election results from the 2020 presidential election.

Decision Desk HQ is an independent company that collects, organizes and reports election results and election-related data and analysis for media organizations, political organizations and others who are interested in votes and how people voted, according to its website.


Here Are the Latest Presidential Election Results in the State of Michigan

Heavy has partnered with Decision Desk HQ to provide you live election results from Michigan, and every other state in the country. Here are the latest results:

Michigan is one of a handful of swing states that are expected to determine the trajectory of the 2020 presidential election. Other cliff-hanger states include Wisconsin, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Georgia. As of noon Eastern time on Wednesday, Biden had a lead in Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada, and Trump had a lead in Georgia and Pennsylvania. You can follow live results for each of the states, and the nation as a whole, here.

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