OHIO — Early Sunday, President Donald Trump tweeted, saying "Can I change my vote?" was trending on Google — which led to millions of others to question whether they could in their state.
Google Trends shows more people did search the question on Oct. 22, the last debate between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
However, the search is a common occurrence.
Google Trends showcases data that doesn't represent the entire or absolutely search data, meaning it doesn't show how many people actually search a term. Instead, Google puts the search volume on an index from 1 to 100. For example, the first graph will show you that Alaska had the highest amount of searches with that question and "100" next to it, indicating most of the searches originated from there in that particular time period.
Over the past 16 years, the question has been searched multiple times — not just now. The highest spike in searches actually came in Nov. 2016 when Trump won the presidency`.
But if narrowed down to Ohio instead of the U.S., the spikes in searches over the same extended period of time nearly double.
Between Oct. 19 and Oct. 25 of this year, most of the searches in Ohio came out of Lima.
So the question remains: Can you change your vote in Ohio?
No.
Once the ballot goes through the scanner, whether you voted early or at the polls, your vote is set in stone. The Ohio Revised Code prohibits anyone from casting a new vote:
"No absent voter may receive a replacement ballot after the voter's absent voter's ballot has been scanned or entered into automatic tabulating equipment."
But there are a few states that allow it under certain circumstances.
For example, Wiisconsin and Michigan voters can request to "spoil" their absentee ballots, but by a certain deadline. They will then receive a new ballot.
Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, New Hampsure, New Mexico and Pennsylvania allow the same thing, except if the ballot has already been counted.