Is voter fraud a problem in the US?

Whether voter fraud is a problem is debated — I'll survey the evidence on how often it occurs and what safeguards exist.

In the U.S., voter fraud exists but all systematic reviews find it is very rare relative to the number of votes cast.

What the data shows

The Department of Justice investigated over 300 million votes cast between 2002 and 2007 and found no cases of voter impersonation fraud.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council described the 2020 election as "the most secure in American history".

How many proven cases have been documented?

Scholarly and investigative summaries conclude that voter fraud exists but is scarce. The Heritage Foundation's Election Fraud Database catalogs roughly 1,561 instances that produced about 1,325 convictions across many decades.

Heritage itself has reported different totals as it updates the database over time:

The database is described as a non-exhaustive list of election fraud cases from around the country. Brookings noted that to come up with thousands of instances nationwide, Heritage staff had to go back decades where there have been hundreds of millions of votes cast and a very small number of cases were found.

Analyses that put proven cases against total ballots conclude they constitute a rounding error compared to billions of ballots cast.

What types of fraud occur?

The U.S. government defines voter or ballot fraud as one of three broad categories of federal election crimes. Types of fraud include voter impersonation or in-person voter fraud, mail-in or absentee ballot fraud, illegal voting by noncitizens, and double voting.

When fraud is proven, it tends to be small-scale schemes rather than mass conspiracies. Reviews find most reported incidents are traceable to clerical errors or bad data matching practices rather than intentional fraud.

The Brennan Center notes that while impersonation fraud is vanishingly rare, there have been confirmed examples of fraudulent activity involving absentee ballots. That is the category most often cited in proven cases, along with false registrations, vote buying, double voting, and illegal voting by individuals with felony convictions or noncitizens.

Two perspectives on whether it is a "problem"

View that it is not a widespread problem: Citing the rates above, researchers, election officials, and courts argue fraud is too rare to affect outcomes and does not justify broad restrictions on voting. They argue most allegations do not withstand systematic review and that safeguards already exist.

View that it is a problem requiring safeguards: Others argue that even rare instances matter because they can affect close local races, undermine confidence, and reveal vulnerabilities in registration and absentee-ballot systems. Heritage and other groups that maintain fraud databases argue the cases, while small in number, prove the need for voter ID laws, citizenship verification, and improved ballot security. The Brookings analysis acknowledges that "voter fraud is serious, which is why there are many protections built into the system".

Bottom line

Empirical evidence across decades leads to a consistent conclusion: proven voter fraud is extremely rare relative to votes cast — measured in orders of magnitude of 0.0000X percent — and no rigorous body of research has shown fraud at the scale necessary to flip major statewide or national elections.

At the same time, isolated cases do occur and are prosecuted, and targeted enforcement and administrative fixes are widely supported to maintain accuracy and public confidence.