About 7.6 million voting-age Americans ask AI chatbots who to vote for in the 2026 midterms
Pew asked Americans what they’re asking AI ahead of the upcoming midterms. We did the math. Here’s how many US adults turn to AI for election advice.
Key takeaways
- 8% of adults say they’re using AI chatbots to obtain information about the 2026 midterm elections.
- 40% of that group ask for advice on vote choices.
- Adults under 50 are nearly three times as likely to turn to AI for information on elections compared to those 50 and older.
The math behind election time AI use
Roughly half of all US adults use AI chatbots (Pew, June 2026). In October, Pew surveyed a total of 5,273 adults. According to their report, 15% of those who use AI chatbots—that is, about 8% of all adults—use them to find out information about elections. That’s 427 people.
These 427 were asked a follow-up question concerning what kind of information they look for: 40% asked for “suggestions for how to make your vote choices.”
8% × 40% = 3.2% of US adults, or about 1 in 31
So, out of 236.1 million citizens of voting age (Census Bureau, 2024), 7.56 million ask AI to help them choose (roughly 6.5–8.6 million, given the ±5.7-point margin on the 40%).
About 8% of eligible US voters use AI chatbots for election information, and 40% of those users seek advice on making voting choices
Most people use AI for research, not recommendations
Voting suggestions are actually among the least likely objectives of those who ask AI about elections. It ties in last place, with "Registering, finding a polling place, or voting by mail".
| What information people look for using chatbots | Share of election-info users | Approx. people |
| Where candidates stand on the issues | 76% | 14.4 million |
| Accuracy of claims they've heard elsewhere | 71% | 13.4 million |
| Candidates' lives and careers | 65% | 12.3 million |
| Suggestions for how to make their vote choices | 40% | 7.6 million |
| Registering, finding a polling place, or voting by mail | 40% | 7.6 million |
Respondents could choose more than one answer—shares add up to more than 100%
Younger adults are nearly 3x as likely to ask
11% of adults under 50 use chatbots to obtain information on elections. They’re about 2.75 times as likely as those 50 or older—just 4% of whom ask for this information.
This reflects general AI use trends, as younger adults are generally more likely to use AI at all.
Pew did not publish numbers concerning the age of adults asking for help with voting choices.
What Pew found in 2024
Pew carried out a similar survey in February 2024. Back then, just 2% of US adults had ever used ChatGPT to ask for information about the presidential election.
In 2024, Pew found that 2% of adults said they trusted information given by ChatGPT “quite a bit”, and fewer than 0.5%, “a great deal”. This information did not appear in this year’s survey.
Methodology
AI use for election information: Pew Research Center survey of 5,273 US adults, October 12–18, 2026 (±1.5 points overall). Answers are self-reported. Citizen voting-age population: Census Bureau, November 2024, published August 2026.
Sources
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