Short answer: Documented voter fraud in the U.S. is very rare. It does happen, usually in small numbers and most often in local races, but there’s no credible evidence of widespread fraud altering outcomes of recent national elections.
What research and official reviews have found:
•Multiple academic and government studies have put known fraud rates at fractions of a percent—often thousandths or less of a percent of ballots cast. One well-known review found 31 plausible cases of in‑person voter impersonation out of more than a billion ballots cast over 14 years.
•After the 2020 election, federal and state election officials (including the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) and the U.S. Department of Justice reported no evidence of fraud on a scale that would have changed the outcome; courts across many states reached similar conclusions.
•A right-leaning database that collects proven cases across decades shows that while instances exist (including prosecutions), they are minuscule relative to the hundreds of millions of ballots cast.
•Notable exceptions show where vulnerabilities can matter: e.g., the 2018 NC‑9 congressional race (absentee ballot scheme) led to a new election; some city and county contests have seen small-scale mail-ballot manipulation or illegal ballot handling.
What “voter fraud” typically looks like:
•Absentee/mail‑ballot manipulation (improper collection or alteration)
•Voting by ineligible individuals (e.g., certain noncitizens or people with disqualifying felonies), often in very small numbers
•Double voting across jurisdictions
•Rare attempts at voter impersonation at the polls
Safeguards in place:
•Voter registration checks, signature and ID verification (varies by state)
•Ballot tracking, barcodes, and chain‑of‑custody rules for mail ballots
•Bipartisan poll workers and observers
•Paper ballots or paper backups and post‑election audits (including risk‑limiting audits in a growing number of states)
•Canvasses, recounts, and criminal penalties for violations
Bottom line: Voter fraud in the U.S. is not zero, but it’s uncommon and rarely outcome‑determinative beyond very close local races. Election systems include multiple layers to deter, detect, and correct problems, and targeted improvements (like paper ballots plus robust audits and transparent procedures) can further strengthen both security and public confidence. If you want, I can point you to specific studies or official reports.