Is voter fraud a problem in the US?

Based on extensive academic research, government audits, and consensus among election experts, voter fraud is extremely rare in the United States and is not a systemic or widespread problem. While isolated incidents of fraud do occur, they represent a microscopic percentage of the hundreds of millions of ballots cast in U.S. elections.

However, the topic remains a point of significant political debate, with differing perspectives on how voting laws should be structured to balance accessibility and security.

What the Data and Research Show

Numerous nonpartisan, academic, and government investigations have consistently concluded that voter fraud is virtually nonexistent on a scale that could alter the outcome of a major election:

•Brennan Center for Justice: The landmark study The Truth About Voter Fraud found that overall voter fraud rates in the U.S. hover between 0.0003% and 0.0025%. The study famously concluded that an American is more likely to be struck by lightning than to impersonate another voter at the polls.

•The Heritage Foundation (Conservative Think Tank): Heritage maintains a database of proven instances of election fraud to advocate for stricter voting laws. However, an analysis of this database by the Brookings Institution and other researchers revealed that Heritage’s database lists fewer than 1,500 proven cases spanning over four decades. Out of the billions of votes cast during this time, these cases represent a minute fraction (often around 0.00009% of ballots in any given state) and primarily involve local elections or individual administrative errors rather than organized schemes.

•The Associated Press (AP) 2020 Audit: Following claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election, the AP conducted an exhaustive review of 20.6 million ballots cast across six highly contested swing states. They found fewer than 475 potential cases of voter fraud—not nearly enough to have altered the outcome of the election in any state.

•Noncitizen Voting: It is a federal felony for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, carrying penalties of up to five years in prison, heavy fines, and deportation. Audits by state officials have shown that actual noncitizen voting is exceptionally rare. For example, a 2022 Georgia audit found that while some noncitizens had attempted to register, none were allowed to cast ballots. Similarly, a 2024 audit in Oregon discovered that about 1,200 potential noncitizens had been mistakenly added to voter rolls due to a DMV administrative error; however, only five had actually cast a ballot over several years, and the rolls were quickly corrected.

Why Voter Fraud is So Rare

Election law experts point out that the U.S. election system has built-in features that make widespread fraud practically impossible and individually irrational:

1.High Risk, Low Reward: Falsifying a ballot is a felony that carries severe prison sentences and heavy fines. Because a single fraudulent vote has an mathematically negligible impact on a major election, risking prison for one vote is highly irrational.

2.Decentralized System: U.S. elections are not run by a single federal agency; they are decentralized across thousands of local counties and jurisdictions, each using different voting machines, ballots, and registration databases. Organizing a coordinated, multi-state conspiracy to rig an election would require thousands of people working in secret across multiple jurisdictions, making detection inevitable.

3.Modern Security Protocols: Paper ballots or voter-verifiable paper trails are used for nearly all votes cast in the U.S., making audits and recounts highly reliable. Mail-in ballots require security measures like signature verification, barcoded tracking envelopes, and secure drop boxes.

The Two Sides of the Political Debate

Despite the evidence that fraud is rare, the threat of voter fraud remains a central political issue in the U.S. This debate generally splits into two main schools of thought:

1. The Argument for Stricter Voting Laws (Securing the Vote)

Proponents of strict voting laws (primarily Republicans) argue that even if voter fraud is rare, any single fraudulent vote cancels out a legitimate vote and damages public trust in democratic systems. They advocate for preventative measures, including:

•Strict photo ID requirements at the polls.

•Frequent cleaning of voter registration rolls to remove deceased individuals or people who have moved.

•Restrictions on mail-in voting and ballot drop boxes to minimize the opportunity for coercion or mishandling of ballots.

They argue that these common-sense measures prevent fraud before it happens and boost confidence in election outcomes.

2. The Argument for Voting Access (Preventing Disenfranchisement)

Critics of these strict measures (primarily Democrats and voting rights advocates) argue that widespread voter fraud is a "phantom problem" used as a pretext to pass laws that suppress votes. They argue that:

•Strict ID laws, closures of polling places, and limits on mail-in ballots disproportionately affect low-income, minority, elderly, and student voters, who may lack the resources, transportation, or documents required to meet the new standards.

•Overly aggressive purging of voter rolls often accidentally removes eligible, legitimate voters.

•The primary threat to U.S. elections is not fraudulent voters, but rather voter suppression and efforts to undermine public trust in valid election results.

Summary

Empirical evidence proves that voter fraud is a vanishingly rare occurrence in the United States and has never been shown to affect the outcome of a modern presidential or statewide election. However, the debate over how to secure elections without disenfranchising eligible voters remains one of the most polarizing issues in American politics.

Citations (10)

1brennancenter.orgNonprofits and think tanks
brennancenter.org
Backs: “Based on extensive academic research, government audits, and consensus among election experts, voter fraud is extremely rare in the United States and is not a systemic or widespread problem. While isolated incidents of fraud do occur, they represent a microscopic percentage of the hundreds of millions of ballots cast…”
2projectvote.orgNonprofits and think tanks
projectvote.org
Backs: “Based on extensive academic research, government audits, and consensus among election experts, voter fraud is extremely rare in the United States and is not a systemic or widespread problem. While isolated incidents of fraud do occur, they represent a microscopic percentage of the hundreds of millions of ballots cast…”
3brookings.eduNonprofits and think tanks
brookings.edu
Backs: “Based on extensive academic research, government audits, and consensus among election experts, voter fraud is extremely rare in the United States and is not a systemic or widespread problem. While isolated incidents of fraud do occur, they represent a microscopic percentage of the hundreds of millions of ballots cast…”
4brennancenter.orgNonprofits and think tanks
brennancenter.org
Backs: “Brennan Center for Justice: The landmark study The Truth About Voter Fraud found that overall voter fraud rates in the U.S. hover between 0.0003% and 0.0025%.”
5brennancenter.orgNonprofits and think tanks
brennancenter.org
Backs: “The study famously concluded that an American is more likely to be struck by lightning than to impersonate another voter at the polls.”
6wikipedia.orgEncyclopedias and referencequality 0.83
wikipedia.org
Backs: “The Heritage Foundation (Conservative Think Tank): Heritage maintains a database of proven instances of election fraud to advocate for stricter voting laws.”
7brennancenter.orgNonprofits and think tanks
brennancenter.org
Backs: “Out of the billions of votes cast during this time, these cases represent a minute fraction (often around 0.00009% of ballots in any given state) and primarily involve local elections or individual administrative errors rather than organized schemes. The Associated Press (AP) 2020 Audit: Following claims of widespread…”
8americanbar.orgNonprofits and think tanks
americanbar.org
Backs: “The Associated Press (AP) 2020 Audit: Following claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election, the AP conducted an exhaustive review of 20.6 million ballots cast across six highly contested swing states. They found fewer than 475 potential cases of voter fraud—not nearly enough to have altered the…”
9migrationpolicy.orgNonprofits and think tanks
migrationpolicy.org
Backs: “Noncitizen Voting: It is a federal felony for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, carrying penalties of up to five years in prison, heavy fines, and deportation. Audits by state officials have shown that actual noncitizen voting is exceptionally rare.”
10policyarchive.orgNonprofits and think tanks
policyarchive.org
Backs: “Election law experts point out that the U.S. election system has built-in features that make widespread fraud practically impossible and individually irrational: 1.”