AI chatbots get election facts wrong, so check before you vote

Popular AI chatbots often get basic election facts wrong. Research from Forum AI found that almost 40 percent of election answers from mainstream chatbots contained at least one factual error. For deadlines, polling places and candidates, your official state or local election office website is the safer place to look.

What the research found

Last week, Google's Gemini said the deadline to request a mail-in ballot in Pennsylvania was November 3. The real deadline was October 27. In the same research, Google's AI Mode refused to provide the results of the 2020 elections. In August, researchers asked Claude why someone should vote for North Carolina congressman Don Davis. It confused him with a "former school superintendent" of the same name.

Where the bad answers come from

Chatbots rely on information found online, and some of it is poor. NewsGuard found that mainstream chatbots cite so-called "pink slime" websites nearly 50 percent of the time when asked about candidates and policies related to the midterms. These sites look like normal news outlets. They are actually funded by political or ideological groups and individuals.

Many more of these sites have appeared ahead of the midterms. ChatGPT was the worst offender, citing them in more than 70 percent of searches. Grok, from xAI, did best, and it still cited them in 30 percent of cases.

Who is using these tools

Around 50 percent of US adults surveyed by Pew Research have used an AI chatbot at some point. Eight percent say they have used these tools ahead of the midterms to find information on candidates and policies. Google and Anthropic did not respond to requests for comment. OpenAI pointed WIRED to a blog about its approach to elections in 2026.

Why it happens

Nina Jankowicz, executive director of the American Sunlight Project, says companies have overpromised on what AI can do. She notes that chatbots must take in information from somewhere, and often those sources are not good. Because the tools are predictive, she says, they frequently make things up when they do not know the answer.

What to do

• Use your official state or local election office website for deadlines and polling places.
• Treat any chatbot answer about an election as unconfirmed until you check it.
• Be careful with news sites you do not recognize. Some are funded by political groups.