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Google is displaying a grossly inaccurate top news search result for the final popular vote

Sonam Sheth   

Google is displaying a grossly inaccurate top news search result for the final popular vote
Latest2 min read

If you Googled "final election count" on Monday morning to find out which presidential candidate was ahead in the popular vote, you might have noticed something strange about the search results.

Namely, the top Google News result links to a Wordpress blog called "70 News," which claims that Donald Trump won the popular vote by a margin of almost 700,000 votes, and cites Twitter as its source.

Screen Shot 2016 11 14 at 9.34.52 AM

Google

Originally posted on Nov. 12 and updated on Nov. 13, the post is titled "FINAL ELECTION 2016 NUMBERS: TRUMP WON BOTH POPULAR ( 62.9 M -62.2 M ) AND ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTES ( 306-232)...HEY CHANGE.ORG, SCRAP YOUR LOONY PETITION NOW!"

It begins with, "Final #Election 2016 numbers" and follows with "#PopularVote: #Trump: 62,972,226 #Clinton: 62,277,750."

The author then said that they got their information from "Twitter posts," writing that "Except for the twitter posts, the popular vote number still need to be updated in Wikipedia or MSM media - which may take another few days because the liberals are still reeling and recovering from Trump-shock victory."

The author goes on to tell "liberal loonies" to stop "rioting" because Trump won the popular vote.

The Wordpress blog also shows up in the top Google News results when variations of the search are entered in, like "final popular vote."

Screen Shot 2016 11 14 at 9.50.01 AM

Google

The most recently updated popular vote tally, sourced from the Associated Press, shows Clinton with a lead over Trump; she has 61,039,676 votes, while he has 60,371,193.

Screen Shot 2016 11 14 at 10.12.49 AM

Google

With approximately 7 million votes left to count - many of them from solid blue states like New York, California, and Washington - it seems like Clinton may end with a 2% lead in the popular vote.

When reached for comment about the search discrepancy, a Google representative confirmed to Business Insider that they are looking into the matter.

Business Insider will update this post with any new details.

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