There were 140 million votes cast in the 2024 U.S. election.
Posted by The NPR Politics Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 2 contradict1 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
The NPR Politics PodcastOct 26, 2026
The official record puts 2024 presidential votes at about 155 million (Full Fact and CFR cite 155,238,302 and 156,302,318), so 140 million understates the total by roughly 10%. PBS's 'more than 140 million' is literally consistent with the record, and the Census CPS estimate (about 149.5 million) also exceeds 140 million, so the figure depends on the measure used.
A detail. The sources confirm the gist; the verdict faults a detail such as a date, number or wording.
We could not find who says this in the episode. Shown here; not scored.
What was said
… Citizens. Enforcing federal law increases the integrity of elections." That's how the Justice Department is presenting this push. Of course, there were, what, 140 million votes cast in 2024. 113 cases is not going to sway the election one way or the other, but what McCotter noted is that there have been some very tight House races or Senate races where you can have a smaller number ultimately be determinative of the winner. …
The NPR Politics Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. Full Fact reports the official US government count of 155,238,302 total votes cast in the 2024 presidential election, which is well above 140 million.[1]
Contradicts. The CFR's 2024 election numbers report more than 155 million Americans voted, specifically 156,302,318.[4]
Supports. PBS News (tier 2) states that more than 140 million Americans cast ballots in 2024, which is consistent with the claim only as a lower bound.[5]
Context. The Census Bureau's CPS voting report discusses discrepancies between survey-based and official vote counts, and its table includes a total near 149.5 million, so the measure used changes the figure.[2][3]
Sources
5 sources: 1 fact-checker, 2 primary, 1 not rated, 1 tier 2
- 1Question Time 'slip of the tongue' on Trump voters - Full Factfullfact.org · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts
- 2[PDF] Voting and Registration in the Election of November 2024www2.census.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 3Official 2024 Presidential General Election Resultsfec.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 4The 2024 Election by the Numbers | Council on Foreign Relationscfr.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 5Interactive: How key groups of Americans voted in 2024 | PBS Newspbs.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Approximately 30 million Americans have already voted in the current election cycle.True
- Approximately 30 million Americans have already voted in the 2026 midterm elections.True
- Donald Trump received 6.1 million votes in California in the 2024 presidential election.True
- 27 million people have voted early nationwide as of October 26, 2026.False
- The national total of early and mail-in ballots is 29.9 million compared to 15 million at a similar point in 2022.Mixed