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Unsupported

Russia changed the recorded vote tallies in the 2016 US election

Reviewed July 19, 2026

Verdict

Unsupported. U.S. official assessments documented a Russian influence campaign and the probing of election infrastructure, but found no evidence that vote counts were altered — DHS assessed that the systems Russian actors targeted were not involved in vote tallying. We hold this claim to the same evidence bar as any other.

Applies to: United States 2016 Presidential ElectionRelated narrative: ““The election is already rigged”

What the evidence shows

Official reportU.S. Office of the Director of National IntelligenceJanuary 6, 2017
Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections (ICA 2017-01D)
OriginalArchive pending
Official reportU.S. Senate Select Committee on IntelligenceJuly 25, 2019
SSCI Report on Russian Active Measures, Volume I: Russian Efforts Against Election Infrastructure
OriginalArchived
Official reportU.S. Senate Select Committee on IntelligenceOctober 8, 2019
SSCI Report on Russian Active Measures, Volume II: Russia’s Use of Social Media
OriginalArchived