Is voter fraud a problem in the US?

NoSays it is contested

Is voter fraud a significant issue in the US? I'll examine the current research and evidence.

In the US, voter fraud exists but studies and audits consistently find it is extremely rare and not at a scale that affects federal election outcomes.

Definition - voter fraud is defined as "the intentional corruption of the electoral process by the voter" — whether through casting multiple ballots, voting by noncitizens or impersonation

What the numbers say:

Multiple independent analyses put the incidence of proven voter fraud at effectively zero for practical election outcomes. A Brennan Center analysis estimated fraud rates between roughly 0.0003% and 0.0025%, and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study of mail ballots over two decades called mail-in fraud "exceedingly rare" and reported rates on the order of 0.00006 percent of votes nationally. A Brookings review of Heritage Foundation data calculated that in Arizona fraudulent votes were roughly 0.0000845 percent across decades

Other reviews report similar ranges: documented rates range from roughly 0.00000017 percent up through numbers like 0.0000845 percent — all fractions of a percent.

After the 2020 election:

•The Associated Press found 475 instances of possible voter fraud in six states where a combined 25 million ballots were cast. A separate AP review described it as 473 potential cases in those six battleground states.

•Former Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department had not seen fraud "on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election"

•Official post-election audits and other research have shown voter fraud to be exceptionally rare

Proven cases do exist:

•The Heritage Foundation maintains a database that now documents 581 cases of proven voter fraud and 848 criminal convictions, and in a more recent accounting tallied 1,561 instances leading to 1,325 convictions in its historical record. A 2026 congressional review of that database found 1,546 election fraud cases accumulated over decades, but only 68 involving noncitizen voting going back to the 1980s. Heritage argues this proves not only that voter fraud is real and ongoing, but also that it is not isolated and has been documented in 47 states

•A Brennan Center examination covering 23.5 million votes found roughly 30 suspected incidents of noncitizen voting, about 0.0001 percent. The Brennan Center's review of the Heritage database found just 10 cases involving in-person impersonation fraud and concluded voter fraud is "vanishingly rare, and impersonating a voter at the polls is less common a phenomenon than being struck by lightning". The libertarian Cato Institute also said in 2020 and 2024 that there was no detectable amount of noncitizen voting

Summary:

Analyses reveal that voter fraud is extremely rare in American elections, with research indicating the occurrence is "infinitesimally small and almost never affects election outcomes". Scholars conclude instances are extremely uncommon relative to the hundreds of millions of ballots cast, and studies have consistently shown widespread or coordinated voter fraud is rare.

However, documented cases do exist, which is why some groups and officials argue stricter verification is needed, while other election experts and civil rights organizations argue the rarity does not justify broad restrictions. Studies note many alleged instances are mistakes rather than intentional fraud.

Citations (1)

1factually.coLow provenance
Factually
Backs: “The libertarian Cato Institute also said in 2020 and 2024 that there was no detectable amount of noncitizen voting. Summary: Analyses reveal that voter fraud is extremely rare in American elections, with research indicating the occurrence is "infinitesimally small and almost never affects election outcomes".”
evidence, article, points to no. Claim: Analyses show voter fraud is extremely rare in American elections, with occurrence described as infinitesimally small and almost never affecting election outcomes.