Is voter fraud a problem in the US?
Short answer: It exists, but it's extremely rare — not the widespread problem often claimed
Multiple independent studies across decades and using different methodologies consistently find that voter fraud in the U.S. is real but statistically minuscule, occurring nowhere near the scale needed to affect election outcomes.
What the data show
Impersonation fraud (someone pretending to be another voter) is almost nonexistent. A comprehensive 2014 study published in The Washington Post found 31 credible instances of impersonation fraud from 2000 to 2014, out of more than 1 billion ballots cast. Separate research reached similar conclusions: a project found 10 cases of voter impersonation fraud nationwide from 2000–2012, and a follow-up study looking specifically in states where politicians claimed fraud was a major problem found zero successful prosecutions for impersonation fraud in five states from 2012–2016.
The rates, when calculated, are vanishingly small. Brookings' use of Heritage Foundation data shows an Arizona-specific rate of roughly .0000845% when 36 cases are compared to over 42 million ballots cast across 25 years, and a Pennsylvania calculation found 39 cases across more than 100 million ballots yielding about 0.000039%. A frequently cited comparison put it starkly: given this tiny incident rate for voter impersonation fraud, it is more likely that an American "will be struck by lightning than that he will impersonate another voter at the polls."
Double voting and non-citizen voting are similarly rare. A 2016 working paper concluded that the upper limit on double voting in the 2012 election was 0.02%, though the incident rate was likely much lower since audits showed many apparent double votes could be measurement error. On non-citizen voting, a 2014 paper concluded that "the likely percent of non-citizen voters in recent US elections is 0."
Even conservative-leaning trackers find low numbers
Even the Heritage Foundation's database, often used by those arguing fraud is a bigger concern, doesn't show a large-scale problem. Heritage laid out cases in every state, creating the "Election Fraud Database," which found 1,561 instances of voter fraud that resulted in 1,325 convictions, with 20 cases brought in 2024. Spread across decades and hundreds of millions of votes cast nationally, this still represents an extraordinarily small fraction. As one election expert summarized: "There are a few cases of election fraud in every campaign. But it's not systemic. It's not widespread."
2024 election specifically
Post-2024 reviews back this pattern up:
The bottom line
The amount of voter fraud in the United States is not zero, but it is very close to zero — and the multiple safeguards, transparencies, and verification systems in place ensure that voter fraud will remain both small in scale and rare. No credible academic, government, or nonpartisan analysis has found fraud at a scale sufficient to change a federal election outcome.
One important caveat: There's a significant gap between the actual rate of fraud and public perception of it — a 2024 academic survey found substantial proportions of U.S. registered voters believe that various types of election fraud are common, despite the empirical evidence showing otherwise. This perception gap itself has become a significant political and policy issue, separate from the question of fraud's actual prevalence.
Citations (14)
- Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth | Brennan Center for Justice
Source excerpt: “A comprehensive 2014 study published in The Washington Post found 31 credible instances of impersonation fraud from 2000 to 2014, out of more than 1 b...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: A 2014 study found 31 credible impersonation fraud instances from 2000 to 2014 out of over 1 billion ballots.
- Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth | Brennan Center for Justice
Source excerpt: “The project found 10 cases of voter impersonation fraud nationwide from 2000–2012. The follow-up study, which looked for fraud specifically in states ...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: A project found 10 impersonation fraud cases from 2000–2012; a follow-up found zero successful prosecutions in five states 2012–2016.
- What’s the actual percentage of voter fraud in the Uni...
Source excerpt: “Analyses that compile prosecuted or confirmed instances of wrongdoing produce extraordinarily low rates: Brookings’ use of Heritage Foundation data sh...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: Brookings' use of Heritage data shows extremely low fraud rates in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
- Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth
Source excerpt: “Given this tiny · incident rate for voter impersonation fraud, it is more likely, the report noted, that an American · “will be struck by lightning th...”
evidence, official document, points to no. Claim: Impersonation is so rare that an American is more likely to be struck by lightning than impersonate a voter.
- Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth | Brennan Center for Justice
Source excerpt: “A 2016 working paper concluded that the upper limit on double voting in the 2012 election was 0.02%. The paper noted that the incident rate was likely...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: A 2016 working paper put the upper limit on double voting in 2012 at 0.02%, likely lower.
- Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth | Brennan Center for Justice
Source excerpt: “· A 2014 paper concluded that “the likely percent of non-citizen voters in recent US elections is 0.” ”
attribution, article, points to no. Claim: A 2014 paper concluded the likely percent of non-citizen voters in recent elections is 0.
- Voter Fraud in US Elections? What the Data and Research Shows - Newsweek
Source excerpt: “Heritage laid out cases in every state, creating the "Election Fraud Database," which found 1,561 instances of voter fraud that resulted in 1,325 conv...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: Heritage's Election Fraud Database found 1,561 instances and 1,325 convictions, a tiny fraction of votes cast.
- Voter Fraud in US Elections? What the Data and Research Shows - Newsweek
Source excerpt: “"There are a few cases of election fraud in every campaign," West said. "But it's not systemic. It's not widespread.”
attribution, article, points to no. Claim: An election expert said there are a few fraud cases in every campaign but it's not systemic or widespread.
- Wisconsin clerks refer 46 cases of suspected fraud, irregularities in 2024 presidential election
Source excerpt: “Wisconsin clerks refer 46 cases of suspected fraud, irregularities in 2024 presidential election MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin election clerks referr...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: Wisconsin clerks referred 46 suspected fraud cases from 2024, a tiny fraction of 3.4 million ballots.
- widespread election fraud claims by republicans dont match the evidence
Source excerpt: “In Georgia, Heritage has reported no cases of fraud in the 2020 or 2022 general elections, in which nearly nine million votes were cast. ”
evidence, article, points to no. Claim: Heritage reported no Georgia fraud cases in 2020 or 2022 elections with nearly nine million votes.
- nevada investigates more than 300 potential voter fraud cases 2024 election
Source excerpt: “According to the report, there were 303 instances of "double voting" – the same person attempting to vote twice – detected in the 2024 general electio...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: Nevada detected 303 double-voting attempts in 2024, each caught before a second vote was cast.
- no 20 million democratic votes didnt disappear and
Source excerpt: “Election experts and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency reported no evidence of disappearing votes or widespread fraud during the 20...”
evidence, article, points to no. Claim: Election experts and CISA reported no evidence of disappearing votes or widespread fraud in 2024.
- How common is voter fraud?
Source excerpt: “So the amount of voter fraud in the United States is not zero, but it is very close to zero. And the multiple safeguards, transparencies, and verifica...”
evidence, article, points to no. Claim: Voter fraud is not zero but very close to zero, with safeguards keeping it small and rare.
- public-pages-files-2025.frontiersin.org
Source excerpt: “In our analysis, we show that substantial proportions of U.S. registered voters believe that these types of election fraud are common.”
evidence, article, neutral. Claim: A 2024 survey found substantial proportions of registered voters believe election fraud types are common, despite evidence.