Wisconsin Surges in Election Fraud Claims Post-Election Day

While the overall volume of posts on X (formerly Twitter) about election fraud in battleground states has declined since Election Day, Wisconsin has emerged as a hotspot of online discourse. The shift comes as Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde sows doubt in the election results, refusing to concede to Senator Tammy Baldwin after final ballot tallies put her ahead.

The Wisconsin Surge

On November 11th, Wisconsin overtook Arizona as the leading battleground state for election fraud-related posts. PeakMetrics recorded 17,520 posts about election fraud mentioning Wisconsin, surpassing Arizona's 15,581 posts. By November 12th, the trend accelerated, with approximately 70% of all posts about election fraud in battleground states focusing on Wisconsin.

Between November 6th and November 12th, election fraud-related posts mentioning Wisconsin skyrocketed by 789%, climbing from 2,570 posts to 22,589. Many of these posts contain bold, unverified claims, such as:

• "ELECTION FRAUD ALERT: The Democrats STOLE the Wisconsin Senate Seat with the exact same tactic they used in 2020! PSA: This happening is STATISTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE. Not unlikely. Not improbable. BUT IMPOSSIBLE." 
• "Trump literally made Wisconsin too big to rig. Look at this chart!" ([Link])
• "108,000 absentee ballots in Wisconsin? Totally criminal election fraud." ([Link])

Meanwhile, the conversation around Pennsylvania, which dominated election fraud-related posts on Election Day, has significantly diminished. Posts mentioning Pennsylvania dropped by 88%, from 47,696 on November 6th to 5,674 by November 12th. Despite ballots still being counted, it appears unlikely that Senator Bob Casey will gain enough votes to overtake Dave McCormick’s lead. The race remains uncalled, with Casey refusing to concede.

The rise in Wisconsin-focused claims underscores how narratives about election fraud shift and concentrate based on political dynamics and candidate responses. PeakMetrics continues to monitor the evolution of these narratives to uncover trends and assess their impact in real time.