Is the U.S. Midterm Election held on a Wednesday in 2026, as the official account of the FBI's New Haven branch posted? No, that's not true: According to 2 U.S.C. 7, elections are to be held "the Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November, in every even numbered year". In 2026 that date falls on Tuesday, November 3rd.
The claim appeared in a post on X (archived here) published on November 2, 2026, by the official X account of FBI New Haven. It read:
Election day is Wednesday and the #FBI is working around the clock to ensure the midterms are safe. Special Agent in Charge P. J. O'Brien and Public Affairs Specialist Christine Jeltema sat down with @thevoiceofct to discuss how the FBI protects the integrity of elections, including threats, voter intimidation, and ballot fraud. Listen in on their conversation here: ow.ly/2FOZ5102Zwb.
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
The Tuesday next after the 1st Monday in November, in every even numbered year, is established as the day for the election, in each of the States and Territories of the United States, of Representatives and Delegates to the Congress commencing on the 3d day of January next thereafter.
In 2026 that would make it Tuesday, November 3rd.
Lead Stories has reached out to the FBI's New Haven office for comment and will update this story when a reply is received.
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Maarten Schenk is the co-founder and COO/CTO of Lead Stories and an expert on fake news and hoax websites. He likes to go beyond just debunking trending fake news stories and is endlessly fascinated by the dazzling variety of psychological and technical tricks used by the people and networks who intentionally spread made-up things on the internet.
