Maggie Hassan won “1,100 votes from town with population under 700.”
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Maggie Hassan didn’t win 1,106 votes in Columbia, New Hampshire. It was a typo
If Your Time is short
- Maggie Hassan won 106 votes from voters in Columbia, New Hampshire, according to unofficial results. But a typo on the secretary of state’s website made it appear as though she had won 1,106.
- The mistakenly inflated number — which was corrected — did not change the outcome of the election in which Hassan defeated Republican challenger Don Bolduc.
Incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., was re-elected Nov. 8 with 53.6% of the vote, according to unofficial election results, defeating Republican challenger Don Bolduc. But recent social media claims cast doubt on her victory.
"Another Democrat miracle! Maggie Hassan wins 1,100 votes from town with population under 700," reads a screenshot of a Gateway Pundit headline.
An Instagram post sharing the screenshot was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
The Gateway Pundit blog post, published Nov. 13, said that though Columbia, a town in northern New Hampshire, has a population of fewer than 700 people, according to the 2020 U.S. Census, Hassan received 1,106 votes from there and Bolduc 193.
The Gateway Pundit cited conservative blog GraniteGrok, which in turn referenced the secretary of state’s website.
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When we reviewed the vote totals in the race from each county and city, the secretary of state’s site showed Hassan winning 106 votes from Columbia while Bolduc won 193. That tracks with the total number of ballots cast in Columbia: 309.
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The secretary of state’s office sent PolitiFact a press release in response to questions about the posts. The 1,106 figure was "a simple typo," according to the statement announcing a correction in the vote tally for the senate race.
The mistake, which was corrected and reflected in the now-online results, didn’t change the election’s outcome.
We rate claims that Hassan won more votes in Columbia, New Hampshire, than were cast False.
Our Sources
Instagram post, Nov. 14, 2022
WMUR-TV, Typo in election returns gave Hassan more votes than ballots cast in Coos County town, Nov. 14, 2022
GraniteGrok, [Updated (3) 11/14/22] How Did Maggie Hassan Get 1100 Votes in NH Town With a Population Under 700?, Nov. 12, 2022
New Hampshire Secretary of State’s website, 2022 general election results, visited Nov. 14, 2022
The Gateway Pundit, Another Democrat Miracle! Maggie Hassan Wins 1,100 Votes from Town with Population Under 700, Nov. 13, 2022
New Hampshire Office of Strategic Initiatives, 2010 - 2020 Census Totals for Cities and Towns, visited Nov. 14, 2022
The New York Times, New Hampshire U.S. Senate Election Results, last updated Nov. 14, 2022
New Hampshire Secretary of State press release, received Nov. 14, 2022
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Maggie Hassan didn’t win 1,106 votes in Columbia, New Hampshire. It was a typo
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