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GPT-5Sep 6, 2026openai/gpt-5-2025-08-07
Is voter fraud a problem in the US?
No
Short answer: Isolated cases of voter fraud occur, but comprehensive evidence shows it is rare in the United States and has not changed outcomes of recent presidential or statewide elections.
What the evidence shows
•Multiple large studies and reviews (e.g., Brennan Center for Justice; Loyola Law School’s Justin Levitt) find extremely low rates. Levitt identified 31 credible cases of in‑person voter impersonation out of more than 1 billion ballots cast from 2000–2014.
•The Brennan Center has estimated overall fraud rates on the order of 0.0003%–0.0025% in various elections—vanishingly small.
•In 2020, federal and state officials, including the Department of Justice and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, found no evidence of widespread fraud; CISA called 2020 “the most secure in American history.” Dozens of post‑election lawsuits alleging widespread fraud were dismissed or withdrawn for lack of evidence.
•Post‑election audits and recounts (for example, Georgia’s full hand count and risk‑limiting audit, and multiple audits in Arizona’s Maricopa County) confirmed reported results.
Where problems do occur
•Fraud and misconduct do happen, typically on a small scale and more often involving absentee/mailed ballots or local races than in‑person voting. Examples include:
•North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District (2018): an absentee ballot scheme led to a new election.
•Paterson, New Jersey (2020) and Bridgeport, Connecticut (2019 and 2023): absentee ballot irregularities led to criminal charges or court‑ordered do‑overs in local races.
•Administrative errors (like list maintenance issues or data entry mistakes) are more common than intentional fraud and are usually caught in canvassing and audit processes.
Safeguards in place
•Bipartisan poll workers, voter registration verification, signature and ID checks (varies by state), ballot tracking and chain‑of‑custody rules, barcoded ballots tied to voter rolls, provisional ballots, canvasses, and post‑election audits (in many states, risk‑limiting audits).
•Cases that do arise are routinely investigated and prosecuted.
Bottom line
•Voter fraud is not zero, but credible research and official reviews consistently show it is rare and not a systemic problem. The bigger, ongoing tasks are improving administration, transparency, and trust—while maintaining safeguards that detect and deter the relatively small number of fraudulent acts.