Is voter fraud a problem in the US?

Voter fraud claims come up every election — I'll gather the latest evidence on how widespread it is in the US.

In the US voter fraud exists, but research consistently finds it is very rare relative to total votes cast, and not at a scale that has affected federal election outcomes.

What research shows about frequency

•Electoral fraud is very rare in the United States. Research has consistently found that voter fraud in the United States is very rare.

•Multiple analyses put rates at microscopic levels:

•A widely cited Brennan Center for Justice analysis found voter impersonation at between 0.0003% and 0.0025%

•A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study of mail ballots over 20 years called mail-in fraud "exceedingly rare" at 0.00006 percent of individual votes nationally

•Other syntheses put documented rates at roughly 0.00000017% to 0.0000845% depending on method and timeframe

•Nationwide databases illustrate the scale:

•In 2012, News21 compiled 2,068 alleged voter fraud cases reported between 2000 and 2012 out of hundreds of millions of votes cast - about 0.000003 cases for every vote cast

•The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, publishes a database of voter fraud cases brought by prosecutors since 1979. As of November 2023, there were 1,465 proven cases listed in 44 years, an average of 33 cases per year. Other reviews of the same database note approximately 1,400 proven cases since 1982, and 1,561 instances leading to 1,325 convictions in its historical record

•In Texas, Heritage found 103 cases of confirmed voter fraud between 2005 and 2022, in a period where 107 million ballots were cast, or 0.000096% of all ballots cast

Analysis of the Heritage database by the Brennan Center concluded it undermines claims of widespread fraud, finding just 10 cases involving in-person impersonation fraud at the polls in reviewing billions of votes cast and only 41 cases involving non-citizens registering, voting, or attempting to vote over five decades.

What types of fraud occur

•In-person voter impersonation - when someone votes under someone else's identity - is described as extremely rare. Between 1978 and 2018, no elections were overturned by courts due to voter impersonation fraud.

•Mail-in / absentee ballot fraud occurs more often than in-person fraud, but still at very low rates. Experts say fraud occurs more often with mailed-in votes than with in-person voting, though misconduct "still amounts to only a tiny fraction" of mail ballots.

•Noncitizen voting is extremely rare, due in part to severe penalties including deportation, up to five years incarceration or fines. A Brennan Center study of 2016 data from 42 jurisdictions found an estimated 30 incidents of suspected noncitizen voting out of 23.5 million votes cast (or .0001% of votes). A Brennan Center examination covering 23.5 million votes found roughly 30 suspected incidents of noncitizen voting, about 0.0001 percent.

Fraud is more likely to occur in and affect the outcome of local elections, where the potential impact of a small number of votes can be greater. Between 1978 and 2018, at least fourteen elections were invalidated or overturned by courts due to absentee ballot fraud, twelve of which were at the local level.

Some experts have said voter fraud can be difficult to prove or find depending on circumstances, although experts generally consider widespread cheating easy to detect.

Recent enforcement and why debate continues

Federal enforcement in 2025-2026 provides a recent snapshot. The Trump administration's whole-of-government effort to find and prosecute noncitizens on state voter rolls has resulted in about 1,600 voter fraud cases that have led to 160 arrests.

That represents a tiny fraction of the country's more than 211 million active registered voters. Experts and former election officials described the numbers as underscoring that voter fraud, including voting by noncitizens, is rare.

> "They have tried to manufacture evidence of widespread noncitizen voting, and every time they do, their numbers are incredibly small... They confirm what we've known for years, which is that states have been doing an extraordinarily good job of keeping noncitizens off their voter lists."

In a similar Texas review in 2025, of 2,724 registered voters flagged as noncitizens, 117 cases were referred for investigation and seven people were charged - out of about 18 million registered voters in the state.

Officials prosecuting cases argue even small numbers matter: "The right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election... But the actions of even one malicious actor on the ground can fatally undercut that security."

Bottom line

•Most academic studies, journalism investigations, and both nonpartisan and conservative databases agree that proven voter fraud in federal elections is on the order of thousandths to millionths of a percent of votes cast, and has not been shown to have altered a presidential or other federal outcome in modern history.

•Fraud does occur in isolated cases - including double voting, mail-ballot abuse, noncitizen voting by mistake or intent, and fraudulent registration - and is more potentially consequential in close local races.

•Whether this constitutes a "problem" often depends on definition: as a statistical threat to the outcome of large national elections, experts describe it as extremely rare; as an election-integrity and public-confidence issue where any illegal voting dilutes lawful votes, law enforcement agencies continue to investigate and prosecute it.

Citations (3)

1wikipedia.orgEncyclopedias and referencequality 0.83
Electoral fraud in the United States
Backs: “In the US voter fraud exists, but research consistently finds it is very rare relative to total votes cast, and not at a scale that has affected federal election outcomes.”
2brennancenter.orgNonprofits and think tanks
Analysis: Heritage Foundation's Database Undermines Claims of Recent Voter Fraud
Backs: “In Texas, Heritage found 103 cases of confirmed voter fraud between 2005 and 2022, in a period where 107 million ballots were cast, or 0.000096% of all ballots cast. Analysis of the Heritage database by the Brennan Center concluded it undermines claims of widespread fraud, finding just 10 cases involving in-person…”
3ap.orgNews and mediaquality 0.69
Administration's focus on noncitizen voting has led to 160 arrests. Experts say that shows it's rare | The Associated Press
Backs: “Recent enforcement and why debate continues. Federal enforcement in 2025-2026 provides a recent snapshot. The Trump administration's whole-of-government effort to find and prosecute noncitizens on state voter rolls has resulted in about 1,600 voter fraud cases that have led to 160 arrests.”