Is voter fraud a problem in the US?

Based on extensive research, court rulings, government audits, and consensus among election security experts, voter fraud in the United States is exceedingly rare and not a systemic or widespread problem. Factual investigations consistently find that the number of fraudulent votes cast is statistically minuscule and has never been shown to affect the outcome of any modern national election.

However, the topic remains a major point of political debate, with stark differences between empirical data and public perception.

1. What the Empirical Data Shows

Numerous non-partisan, academic, and even conservative studies have investigated the prevalence of voter fraud in the U.S. and arrived at the same conclusion: instances of fraud are highly isolated.

•Extremely Low Rates of Occurrence: Multiple studies have calculated the rate of voter fraud to be less than 0.0001%. For example, research published by the Brookings Institution analyzing mail-in ballots across several general elections found that mail-in voting fraud accounted for about 0.000043% of all mail ballots cast—equivalent to roughly four out of every 10 million.

•The Heritage Foundation Database: The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that advocates for stricter voting laws, maintains a database of proven, prosecuted cases of election fraud. A close analysis of their data shows that over several decades and hundreds of millions of votes cast, they have documented fewer than 1,500 cases of fraud nationwide—averaging only a few dozen cases per year across the entire country.

•Post-Election Audits: Following the disputed 2020 presidential election, the Associated Press conducted a deep-dive review of potential voter fraud in six battleground states. They found fewer than 475 potential cases of fraud out of more than 25 million votes cast in those states—a number far too small to alter the results. Virtually all of these involved individuals acting alone, such as someone mistakenly voting while on parole or casting a ballot on behalf of a recently deceased relative.

•Noncitizen Voting Audits: Noncitizen voting has been a central political talking point. However, when states conduct thorough audits of their voter rolls, they consistently find that noncitizen registration and voting are statistically negligible. For example:

•A monthslong 2024 review of Utah's 2.1 million registered voters found exactly one confirmed noncitizen on the rolls, and that person had never voted.

•A 2024 audit in Georgia found just 20 registered noncitizens out of 8.2 million registrants.

•A 2025 systemwide audit of Michigan’s 7.2 million active registered voters identified only 16 individuals who appeared to be noncitizens who had cast ballots in the 2024 election.

•Studies highlight that noncitizens are highly unlikely to risk deportation, criminal charges, and their path to legal residency just to cast a single vote.

2. Why is Voter Fraud So Difficult to Commit?

The United States does not have a single, centralized election system. Instead, elections are highly decentralized, run independently by thousands of local county and municipal jurisdictions. This structure, combined with multiple layers of security, makes coordinated, large-scale fraud practically impossible to execute or hide.

Key security measures include:

•Voter Roll Maintenance: Election offices regularly clean their voter registration lists to remove individuals who have moved, died, or otherwise become ineligible.

•Signature Matching and Barcodes: Mail-in ballots are tracked using unique barcodes assigned to individual voters, and signatures on the return envelopes are cross-checked against those on file.

•Paper Trails: The vast majority of Americans vote using paper ballots or electronic machines that generate a verifiable paper audit trail, allowing for physical hand recounts in close races.

•Severe Legal Penalties: Committing voter fraud is a felony. It carries penalties of heavy fines, years of prison time, and—for noncitizens—immediate deportation.

3. Public Perception vs. Reality

Despite the lack of empirical evidence, a large percentage of Americans remain concerned about voter fraud. Polls consistently show that a significant portion of the public—particularly Republican-leaning voters—express worry about election integrity.

This gap between the data and public concern is driven largely by political rhetoric, partisan cues, and media coverage. This divide has fueled two main arguments in the ongoing debate over how U.S. elections should be run:

•The Argument for Stricter Voting Laws: Proponents of tighter rules (primarily Republicans) argue that even rare cases of fraud undermine public confidence in democratic institutions. They push for measures like strict photo ID requirements, signature matching, limits on mail-in voting, and bills like the federal SAVE Act (which requires documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote) to preemptively secure the system and reassure voters.

•The Argument for Voter Access: Opponents of these restrictions (primarily Democrats and voting rights groups) argue that since widespread voter fraud is a non-issue, stricter laws are a form of "voter suppression". They contend that these laws do not make elections any safer but instead place unnecessary obstacles in front of legitimate voters—particularly low-income citizens, minorities, students, and the elderly, who are statistically less likely to possess specific forms of government-issued ID or birth certificates.

Citations (11)

1brookings.eduNonprofits and think tanks
brookings.edu
Backs: “Based on extensive research, court rulings, government audits, and consensus among election security experts, voter fraud in the United States is exceedingly rare and not a systemic or widespread problem. Factual investigations consistently find that the number of fraudulent votes cast is statistically minuscule and…”
2projectvote.orgNonprofits and think tanks
projectvote.org
Backs: “Based on extensive research, court rulings, government audits, and consensus among election security experts, voter fraud in the United States is exceedingly rare and not a systemic or widespread problem. Factual investigations consistently find that the number of fraudulent votes cast is statistically minuscule and…”
3wikipedia.orgEncyclopedias and referencequality 0.83
wikipedia.org
Backs: “Based on extensive research, court rulings, government audits, and consensus among election security experts, voter fraud in the United States is exceedingly rare and not a systemic or widespread problem. Factual investigations consistently find that the number of fraudulent votes cast is statistically minuscule and…”
4frontiersin.orgAcademic
frontiersin.org
Backs: “However, the topic remains a major point of political debate, with stark differences between empirical data and public perception.”
5statista.comData and toolsquality 0.86
statista.com
Backs: “However, the topic remains a major point of political debate, with stark differences between empirical data and public perception.”
6americanimmigrationcouncil.orgNonprofits and think tanks
americanimmigrationcouncil.org
Backs: “Extremely Low Rates of Occurrence: Multiple studies have calculated the rate of voter fraud to be less than 0.0001%.”
7time.comNews and mediaquality 0.83
time.com
Backs: “For example, research published by the Brookings Institution analyzing mail-in ballots across several general elections found that mail-in voting fraud accounted for about 0.000043% of all mail ballots cast—equivalent to roughly four out of every 10 million. The Heritage Foundation Database: The Heritage Foundation, a…”
8electioninnovation.orgAcademic
electioninnovation.org
Backs: “Post-Election Audits: Following the disputed 2020 presidential election, the Associated Press conducted a deep-dive review of potential voter fraud in six battleground states. They found fewer than 475 potential cases of fraud out of more than 25 million votes cast in those states—a number far too small to alter the…”
9electioninnovation.orgAcademic
electioninnovation.org
Backs: “Noncitizen Voting Audits: Noncitizen voting has been a central political talking point. However, when states conduct thorough audits of their voter rolls, they consistently find that noncitizen registration and voting are statistically negligible.”
10brookings.eduNonprofits and think tanks
brookings.edu
Backs: “Noncitizen Voting Audits: Noncitizen voting has been a central political talking point. However, when states conduct thorough audits of their voter rolls, they consistently find that noncitizen registration and voting are statistically negligible.”
11cato.orgNonprofits and think tanks
cato.org
Backs: “For example: A monthslong 2024 review of Utah's 2.1 million registered voters found exactly one confirmed noncitizen on the rolls, and that person had never voted. A 2024 audit in Georgia found just 20 registered noncitizens out of 8.2 million registrants.”