‘How To Change My Vote’ Searches Spike in States Won By Donald Trump

Searches for “how to change my vote” on Google spiked on Election Day in states won by President-elect Donald Trump, indicating a degree of buyer’s remorse after people cast their presidential ballots.
There is no indication of how people might have wanted to switch votes, as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump decisively beat Democratic candidate Kamala Harris on November 5, but the volume of searches about vote changing hit 100 on Google Trends.
According to the data, queries about “how to change my vote” spiked on the morning of Election Day on November 5 at 7 a.m, reaching 100, before gradually declining throughout the day. By November 6, significantly fewer people were inquiring about switching their choice, but searches increased again on November 7.
Google Trends assigns a value between 0 and 100 to search volumes based on the total number of searches during a given period.
Most people are aware that there is no way to change your vote once it has been cast in a U.S. election, but there seems to be a significant number who thought you might be able to swap your choice for president in the same way you can exchange a red T-shirt for a blue one (or vice versa) at an online clothing store.
Iowa generated the highest number of vote-change queries, specifically in Des Moines-Ames and Cedar Rapids-Waterlook-Iowa City and Dubuque areas.
Trump won Iowa by 13 points, up from his 8-point lead in the 2020 election. However, the searches for “how to change my vote” were highest in areas of the state which had a large portion of votes for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Other states with similar high search interest include Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska and Alabama—all states won by Trump.
Newsweek has contacted Trump’s transition team and Harris’ campaign team for comment via email.
“How to switch” searches in the past 7 days have also been high in the swing states of Arizona and Wisconsin, both of which were won by Trump by a narrow margin, as well as New Mexico, where the Democrats’ lead was cut from 10 points in 2020 to 6 points this year.
There seems no way of knowing whether the election result would have been any different if everyone who wanted to change their vote was able to do so.
Newsweek has contacted Google by email for comment.”
Search results for “did Joe Biden drop out” also peaked several times during election week. President Biden had ended his reelection campaign more than three months earlier, on July 21, amid concerns over his age and cognitive ability. He quickly endorsed Kamala Harris as his choice to replace him as Democratic nominee.
Searches were particularly centered in urban centers, including Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, as well as in Washington and North Carolina.
Trump won Pennsylvania and North Carolina by 2 and 3 points respectively. Harris won in Washington state by 20 points.
On November 6, visa website La Vida recorded an unprecedented 2,300 percent jump in U.S. traffic on their website, suggesting Americans may be considering moving abroad after Trump’s win. That is five times more than the spike in traffic on the La Vida website after the 2020 election, when there was a 4.5-fold spike in site visitors.
La Vida said in a statement they expected heightened demand for visas following the election, but the sheer scale of interest this time took them “by surprise.”
“This surge highlights a growing recognition among Americans: without a viable Plan B, the ballot box might be their only lever—one that leaves half the electorate unfulfilled. Many now see second residency and citizenship as the first step toward greater autonomy, protecting their wealth, lifestyle, and future generations from the uncertainties of shifting government policies,” the statement said.
“Whatever the outcome, our consultants at La Vida are ready to advise our American clients on the most appropriate solution to meet their concerns in the years ahead,” the statement continued.
Additionally, Google Trends reported a surge in breakout search terms such as “how to legally move to Canada,” “moving to Canada from U.S,” and “moving to Canada requirements,” with the highest search volumes coming from states that strongly supported Harris, including Oregon, Washington, New Hampshire, and Vermont.