Ask FactCheck: Week ending January 9

January 9, 2009

Q: What's the deal with Prof. Joseph Olson's "unreported stats" from the 2008 election?

A: This chain e-mail is a hoax. The "statistics" are grossly incorrect, and Prof. Olson says he didn't write it.

Q: Is it true that 36 percent to 37 percent of eligible voters failed to vote in the recent presidential election?

A: Actually, the number is slightly higher than that: 38.4 percent of eligible voters didn't cast a ballot for president in 2008. Even more -- 39.9 percent -- didn't vote in 2006.

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