Is voter fraud a problem in the US?

I'll gather the latest research and data on U.S. voter fraud to answer your question.

Voter fraud does occur in the United States, but multiple studies, government investigations and court reviews find it is extremely rare and does not occur at a scale that affects election outcomes.

What research finds

The consensus from credible research is that the rate of illegal voting is extremely rare, and impersonating another voter is virtually nonexistent:

•The Brennan Center's report The Truth About Voter Fraud found most reported incidents are traceable to clerical errors or bad data matching, and reviewed elections found incident rates between 0.0003 percent and 0.0025 percent. The report noted it is more likely an American will be struck by lightning than impersonate another voter at the polls.

•A comprehensive 2014 study found 31 credible instances of impersonation fraud from 2000 to 2014, out of more than 1 billion ballots cast.

•Two studies at Arizona State University found 10 cases of voter impersonation fraud nationwide from 2000–2012, and a follow-up study found zero successful prosecutions for impersonation fraud in five states from 2012–2016.

•A review of the 2016 election found four documented cases of voter fraud.

•Research into the 2016 election found no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

Government investigations have reached similar conclusions:

•Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach's review of 84 million votes cast in 22 states yielded 14 instances of fraud referred for prosecution, which amounts to a 0.000017 percent fraud rate.

•A specialized United States Department of Justice unit examining the 2002 and 2004 federal elections were able to prove that 0.00000013 percent of ballots cast were fraudulent, with no evidence of a concerted effort to tilt the election.

•Courts have also found little evidence. For example, the Fifth Circuit noted only two convictions for in-person voter impersonation fraud out of 20 million votes cast in Texas in the decade before Texas passed its photo ID law, and the Fourth Circuit noted North Carolina failed to identify even a single individual charged with in-person voter fraud.

Federal election security officials called the 2020 election the most secure in American history, with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency saying there's "no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes".

Other analyses put mail-ballot fraud at roughly 0.00006 percent nationally and similar tiny fractions, and Brennan Center estimates between roughly 0.0003% and 0.0025%.

What types of fraud are tracked

Electoral fraud includes types of fraud include voter impersonation or in-person voter fraud, mail-in or absentee ballot fraud, illegal voting by noncitizens, and double voting.

The FBI defines voter/ballot fraud to include a voter intentionally giving false information when registering to vote, or a voter receiving money or something of value in exchange for voting, and giving false information such as false citizenship claims, voting when ineligible, voting more than once or using someone else's name.

Documented cases do exist

The Heritage Foundation maintains a database that now documents 1,088 proven instances of election fraud, including 949 cases that have resulted in criminal convictions, 48 that have ended in civil penalties, and 75 that have seen defendants enter diversion programs.

Other updates have documented 1,165 proven cases spanning 47 states, and earlier counts of 581 cases and 848 criminal convictions. The Heritage Foundation notes that to come up with thousands of instances around the country, staff had to go back decades where there have been hundreds of millions of votes cast and a very small number of cases found, none of which affected election outcomes.

Recent prosecutions continue but remain isolated:

•In 2024, an illegal alien was charged with fraudulent voting in the 2024 federal election

•A Chinese national residing in Massachusetts was arrested for submitting a fraudulent voter registration and ballot in the 2024 presidential election

Public perception vs. evidence

Despite evidence indicating voter fraud is extremely rare, public opinion is divided. Before one election, Americans were almost evenly divided on whether people committing voter fraud (26%) or eligible voters being prevented from voting (30%) is a more widespread problem.

Conclusion

Research is consistent over time that voter fraud is infinitesimally rare and almost never occurs on a scale that would affect an election outcome. While isolated cases of fraud including non-citizen voting, double voting, and absentee ballot fraud are prosecuted, comprehensive statistics show rates in the ten-thousandths or millionths of a percent when measured against hundreds of millions of ballots cast.

Citations (2)

1brennancenter.orgNonprofits and think tanks
Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth
Backs: “The consensus from credible research is that the rate of illegal voting is extremely rare, and impersonating another voter is virtually nonexistent: The Brennan Center's report The Truth About Voter Fraud found most reported incidents are traceable to clerical errors or bad data matching, and reviewed elections found…”
2hfzk.net.cnNot yet classified
Cybersecurity officials say 2020 election was "the most secure in American history" - CBS News
Backs: “For example, the Fifth Circuit noted only two convictions for in-person voter impersonation fraud out of 20 million votes cast in Texas in the decade before Texas passed its photo ID law, and the Fourth Circuit noted North Carolina failed to identify even a single individual charged with in-person voter fraud. Federal…”