Fact Check: Oklahoma will teach high school students debunked 2020 election-fraud theories as fact

Yahoo

06-05-2025

Claim:
Oklahoma instituted updated academic standards in 2025 requiring schools to teach high school students that widespread fraud impacted the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Rating:
In late April and early May 2025, a rumor spread online that Oklahoma would soon require schools to teach students that widespread voter fraud occurred during the 2020 presidential election, echoing baseless conspiracy theories promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump to explain why he lost that election to former President Joe Biden.
"Next school year, thousands of high school students in Oklahoma will be required to learn about Trump's debunked claims that the 2020 election was tainted by fraud," said one X post by independent reporter Judd Legum. "The lesson will not be part of a course on conspiracy theories, but an official component of the new social studies curriculum."
Similar claims spread on platforms like Facebook, Reddit and Bluesky; many posts alleged the state's Department of Education head, Republican Superintendent Ryan Walters, was responsible for the new curriculum requirements.
Oklahoma's new social studies standards for high school students, which take effect in the 2025-2026 school year, do, in fact, require students to learn about so-called "discrepancies" in the 2020 election. The updated guidelines list examples for these discrepancies, all of which are theories not based in evidence — and many of which Snopes has independently debunked. Thus, we rate this claim true.
Walters did not immediately return a request for comment left for the agency's spokesperson. In an April 29 statement on X, Walters called the new benchmarks a "major victory" for the state.
"The most unapologetically conservative, pro-America social studies standards in the nation are moving forward," Walters' post said. "These reforms will reset our classrooms back to educating our children without liberal indoctrination."
Oklahoma's 2025 social studies standards are available here. See Page 118 for the academic benchmarks outlined under "United States History" for 9th through 12th grade, which clearly require students to study debunked claims of election fraud, but with the perspective that these theories are legitimate, rather than misinformation.
Here is the relevant language from the document:
Identify discrepancies in 2020 elections results by looking at graphs and other information, including the sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of "bellwether county" trends.
Oklahoma's new academic benchmarks are available for download on the Oklahoma State Board of Education's webpage under the "Handouts" section for the Feb. 27, 2025, meeting in a document titled "22725 Final SS OAS 2-27" (which presumably stands for "Feb. 27, 2025, Final Social Studies Oklahoma Academic Standards Feb. 27").
Snopes has repeatedly debunked many of these supposed 2020 election "discrepancies" listed in Oklahoma's new learning targets, including supposed mail-in ballot security issues and the idea that "sudden batch dumps" of voting ballots or an "unforeseen record number of voters" indicates fraud. We have also previously explained that delayed ballot counting doesn't mean voter fraud is happening. Peer-reviewed research published in the National Academy of Sciences' journal shows that trends for so-called "bellwether counties" — areas in the United States which often choose the winning presidential candidate — were not unusual during the 2020 election.
In Oklahoma, the state Department of Education releases proposed updated social studies standards every six years, which the Oklahoma State Board of Education and the Oklahoma Legislature are, in theory, supposed to approve in order for them to go into effect.
But if the Legislature takes no action, then the draft rules will go into effect by default 30 days after they are proposed, per state law on academic standards and their review:
If the Legislature fails to adopt a joint resolution within thirty (30) legislative days following submission of the standards, the standards shall be deemed approved.
That is what happened in this case: Oklahoma's Republican-controlled Legislature did not take action by the May 1 deadline, allowing the new language to go into effect. Attempts by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers to block Walters' effort failed to pass.
Initial draft language available for public comment differs; that document, dated Dec. 14, 2024, and available on the official Oklahoma State Department of Education website, simply directs students to "examine issues related to the election of 2020 and its outcome" (see Page 118 here).
According to Oklahoma Voice, a news outlet focused on the state's government, several State Board of Education officials said they were unaware of last-minute changes in the document when they voted, including the added 2020 election-fraud language.
The new learning targets also call for teaching the controversial theory that COVID-19 began in a Chinese laboratory as undisputed fact, as well as describing the "challenges and accomplishments" of Biden's administration (see Page 118.)
" Bill Information for HJR 1030 ." Oklegislature.gov, www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=HJR1030&session=2500. Accessed 5 May 2025.
" Bill Information for SJR 20 ." Oklegislature.gov, www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=SJR20&Session=2500. Accessed 5 May 2025.
"2024 Oklahoma Statutes :: Title 70. Schools :: §70-11-103.6a-1. Legislative Review of Standards – Final Approval." Justia Law, law.justia.com/codes/oklahoma/title-70/section-70-11-103-6a-1/. Accessed 5 May 2025.
Echter, Brandon. "The 2020 Election Collection: Mail-in Voting." Snopes.com, Snopes, 25 Sept. 2020, www.snopes.com/collections/2020-election-mail-in-voting/?collection=271588. Accessed 5 May 2025.
Eggers, Andrew C., et al. "No Evidence for Systematic Voter Fraud: A Guide to Statistical Claims about the 2020 Election." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 118, no. 45, Nov. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2103619118.
Izzo, Jack. "There's Still No Evidence of Systematic Voter Fraud in the 2020 Election." Snopes.com, Snopes, 27 June 2024, www.snopes.com/collections/no-systematic-voter-fraud-2020/. Accessed 5 May 2025.
Mikkelson, David. "Debunking Trump Tweets: Biden's 143K Vote 'Dump' in Wisconsin." Snopes.com, Snopes, 18 Nov. 2020, www.snopes.com/fact-check/wisconsin-vote-dump/?collection=285005. Accessed 5 May 2025.
---. "Debunking Trump Tweets: Popular Vote Totals Indicative of 'Rigged Election'?" Snopes.com, Snopes, 16 Dec. 2020, www.snopes.com/fact-check/popular-vote-totals-rigged/. Accessed 5 May 2025.
"New Standards Review and Revision Process." Oklahoma State Department of Education (265), oklahoma.gov/education/services/standards-learning/oklahoma-academic-standards/new-standards.html. Accessed 5 May 2025.
Nuria Martinez-Keel. "Oklahoma Board Members Say They Had 'No Idea' of Changes to Social Studies Standards before Vote • Oklahoma Voice." Oklahoma Voice, States Newsroom, 24 Apr. 2025, oklahomavoice.com/2025/04/24/oklahoma-board-members-say-they-had-no-idea-of-changes-to-social-studies-standards-before-vote/. Accessed 5 May 2025.
Oklahoma State Department of Education. "OAS-SS Public Comment - Google Drive." Google Drive, Dec. 2024, drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qupDrHVtLHnKBNN5cmA_RZubfdJrXvqm. Accessed 5 May 2025.
---. "Oklahoma Academic Standards SOCIAL STUDIES." Snopes.com, 27 Feb. 2025, media.snopes.com/2025/05/22725_final_ss_oas_2-27.pdf. Accessed 5 May 2025.
Rascouët-Paz, Anna. "Delayed Vote Totals Don't Mean Voter Fraud Is Happening." Snopes.com, Snopes, 29 Oct. 2024, www.snopes.com/news/2024/10/29/delayed-vote-totals-fraud/. Accessed 5 May 2025.
"Senate Democrats Urge Rejection of OSDE Social Studies Standards before Clock Runs out | Oklahoma Senate." Oksenate.gov, 21 Apr. 2025, oksenate.gov/press-releases/senate-democrats-urge-rejection-osde-social-studies-standards-clock-runs-out?back=/node. Accessed 5 May 2025.
"State Board of Education." Oklahoma State Department of Education (265), oklahoma.gov/education/state-board-of-education.html. Accessed 5 May 2025.
Walters, Ryan. "Today Is a Major Victory for Oklahoma Families and for the Truth. After Months of Democrats and the Teachers Unions Lying and Attacking, the Most Unapologetically Conservative, Pro-America Social Studies Standards in the Nation Are Moving Forward. For Nearly a Year, We Engaged in a Thoughtful, Transparent Process to Deliver Standards That Teach Students Factual History, Including the Realities of the 2020 Election, the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the Threat Posed by Communist China. These Reforms Will Reset Our Classrooms back to Educating Our Children without Liberal Indoctrination. As Part of These Standards, the Bible Will Now Be Recognized as a Foundational Text, Helping Students Understand Its Undeniable Influence on Our Nation's History and Values. We're Proud to Defend These Standards, and We Will Continue to Stand up for Honest, Pr…." X (Formerly Twitter), 29 Apr. 2025, x.com/RyanWalters_/status/1917347084698804338. Accessed 5 May 2025.