Is voter fraud a problem in the US?
Is Voter Fraud a Problem in the US?
Based on extensive academic and government research, actual voter fraud is extremely rare in the United States, though public perception of fraud remains significantly higher than the documented reality — creating a notable gap between belief and evidence.
What the Research Shows
Multiple independent academic studies over decades have found voter fraud to be exceedingly rare. Numerous academic studies and government inquiries have found in-person voter fraud to be rare. Specific findings include:
Recent Elections
2020 Election: An Associated Press count of voter fraud cases in six battleground states in 2020 disputed by Donald Trump found fewer than 475 votes combined—less than two-tenths of one percent of Biden's margin of victory—with most not counted, and no systematic collusion or "rigging"; nearly every case was an individual acting alone.
2024 Election: Even conservative-leaning sources documenting fraud find it minimal. The Heritage Foundation's "Election Fraud Database" found 1,561 instances of voter fraud resulting in 1,325 convictions since tracking began, with only 20 cases brought in 2024. As Brookings scholar Darrell West noted, "There are a few cases of election fraud in every campaign, but it's not systemic. It's not widespread. It's generally not organized, and I don't think ever has affected the actual outcome."
Mail voting, often a specific concern, shows similarly low rates: of the minuscule 0.000043 percent of mail voting found to be fraudulent out of all mail ballots cast in the 2016–2022 general elections, nearly half involved no-excuse absentee systems.
Why Fraud Rates Are So Low
Voter fraud is rare in part because states and local jurisdictions have systems in place to prevent it. Additionally, deterrence plays a role: it's a criminal offense to commit ballot fraud, and most people don't want to go to jail, which serves as a sufficient deterrent for almost everybody—likely only a very small number of people even attempt it.
The Perception Gap
Despite this consistent research, public belief diverges sharply from documented reality:
Bottom Line
The overwhelming weight of nonpartisan academic research, government studies, and even conservative-leaning fraud databases converges on the same conclusion: individual, isolated instances of voter fraud do occur, but they are statistically negligible and have never been shown to affect election outcomes at scale. The persistent belief that fraud is "widespread" is significantly out of proportion to what decades of rigorous investigation have actually documented.
Citations (16)
- Facebook Twitter Tumblr Close Skip to main content
Source excerpt: “However, numerous academic studies and government inquiries have found in-person voter fraud to be rare. ”
- Study Finds No Evidence of Widespread Voter Fraud
Source excerpt: “A study of 2,068 alleged election-fraud cases in 50 states between 2000 and 2012 found the level of fraud was infinitesimal compared with the 146 mill...”
- Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth | Brennan Center for Justice
Source excerpt: “The follow-up study, which looked for fraud specifically in states where politicians have argued that fraud is a pernicious problem, found zero succes...”
- Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth
Source excerpt: “The report reviewed elections that had been meticulously studied for · voter fraud, and found incident rates between 0.0003 percent and 0.0025 percent...”
- 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.” ”
- Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth | Brennan Center for Justice
Source excerpt: “A 2014 study that examined impersonation fraud both at the polls and by mail ballot found zero instances in the ju A 2014 study by the non-partisan G...”
- How common is voter fraud?
Source excerpt: “A count by the Associated Press of voter fraud cases in the six battleground states in 2020 that were disputed by Donald Trump found fewer than 475 vo...”
- 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...”
- 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. It's generally not organized, a...”
- Mail voting fraud: Data points to low risk and high benefits for voters | Brookings
Source excerpt: “Of the minuscule 0.000043 percent of mail voting found to be fraudulent out of all mail ballots cast in the 2016–2022 general elections, after adjusti...”
- What research tells us about voter fraud - SciLine
Source excerpt: “Voter fraud is rare in part because states and local jurisdictions have systems in place to prevent it. ”
- Voter Fraud in US Elections? What the Data and Research Shows - Newsweek
Source excerpt: “"It's a criminal offense to commit ballot fraud, and most people don't want to go to jail. So that's a sufficient deterrent for almost everybody," Dar...”
- Voter Fraud: 2026 Research Stats
Source excerpt: “... A Pew Research Center survey found that 54% of Republicans believe voter fraud is a major problem in U.S. elections, compared to 6% of Democrats. ”
- Voter Fraud: 2026 Research Stats
Source excerpt: “... A Fox News Poll found that 61% of Americans believe "there is a lot of voter fraud in elections," with 48% of them citing "ballot harvesting" as...”
- American Views About Election Fraud in 2024
Source excerpt: “### 1 Introduction Research conducted during the past two decades has concluded that there is no evidence of significant election fraud in contempora...”
- Frontiers | American views about election fraud in 2024
Source excerpt: “The first important conclusion to take from Figure 1 is that each of these types of election fraud is considered to be common or occasional for a thir...”