Fact check: What were the final vote counts in the 2024 presidential election?

1. Summary of the results

The 2024 presidential election resulted in Donald Trump becoming the 47th President of the United States ^[1], defeating Kamala Harris despite initial uncertainty in vote counting. The final tally shows Trump won 312 electoral votes compared to Harris's 226 ^[2]. In terms of the popular vote, Trump received 77,284,118 votes (49.8%) while Harris received 74,999,166 votes (48.3%), with a total voter turnout of 156,302,318 - the second-largest in U.S. history ^[2].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

• Early vote counts and reporting showed significant variations:

Initial counts suggested different numbers, with Harris having approximately 72.4 million votes as of November 13 ^[3]

Early reporting warned against premature conclusions about vote totals ^[3]

• The election featured notable regional variations, as demonstrated in Clark County, Nevada, where Harris actually outperformed Trump (520,187 to 493,052 votes) ^[4]
• Harris's total vote count (74.9 million) represented a significant decrease from Biden's 2020 performance of 81 million votes ^[5]
• The election's legitimacy was confirmed when Harris called Trump to concede the race ^[5]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

• The question itself is overly simplistic and fails to acknowledge the complexity of the U.S. electoral system, where popular vote totals don't determine the winner
• While allegations of voting irregularities were made during the election ^[4], these claims were strongly refuted, and the election's security was emphasized by official sources ^[5]
• Different media outlets and sources reported varying vote totals during the counting process, which could lead to confusion if not properly contextualized
• It's worth noting that both major political parties and their supporters might have incentives to emphasize different aspects of the results:

Democrats might focus on the close popular vote margins

Republicans might emphasize the more decisive Electoral College victory