Is voter fraud a problem in the US?

NoSays it is contested

Exploring what research says about voter fraud in the US — I'll gather the latest data and findings.

In the US voter fraud exists, but research and official reviews consistently find it is extremely rare and not on a scale that affects federal election outcomes.

What the data shows

•Comprehensive reviews put the rate of voter fraud in federal contests at essentially zero for practical purposes - one well-known Brennan Center analysis estimated fraud rates between roughly 0.0003% and 0.0025% based on decades of data. A 2020 study by the Brennan Center also found mail-in ballot fraud rates were between 0.0003% and 0.0025%.

•Other independent analyses put proven rates even lower:

•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 nationally

•Brookings' review of Heritage Foundation case data calculated Arizona fraudulent votes were roughly 0.0000845 percent across decades

•Data from federal elections in Wisconsin over the last 20 years showed 69 instances of voter fraud among over 45 million ballots cast. That is .0001522%

•Measured by prosecutions and convictions, proven cases number in the low thousands across many decades (roughly 1,400–1,600 in Heritage's compilation). A national investigation identified 513 proven voter fraud cases since 2016, representing a small fraction of the 685 million votes cast during that period.

•Noncitizen voting, often cited as a concern, is also found to be very rare. The Heritage Foundation's database documented only about 100 cases of noncitizens voting from 1982 to 2025, and in a 2016 review the Brennan Center found just 30 potential incidents out of 23.5 million votes in 42 jurisdictions (0.0001%).

•Scholars and nonpartisan researchers who have compiled proven cases conclude that instances of voter fraud are extremely uncommon relative to the hundreds of millions of ballots cast and none that shifted outcomes in key contests examined.

The Brennan Center, a nonpartisan law and policy institute at New York University, has researched claims over the last 30 years and reports that it is extraordinarily rare.

What official investigations found

•The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) described the 2020 election as "the most secure in American history". Multiple investigations and audits by CISA found while there were some isolated incidents of voting machine irregularities, there was no evidence of widespread tampering or manipulation.

•Summary of investigations:

•The 2020 presidential election was conducted fairly and securely, with no evidence of widespread voter fraud

•Numerous recounts and audits have failed to uncover any evidence of widespread voter fraud

•Despite numerous investigations and audits, there is no credible evidence to support claims of widespread voter fraud or election rigging

•Isolated criminal cases do occur. For example, DOJ announced charges and guilty pleas involving 12 people across multiple states in cases involving alleged illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration and false citizenship claims. These are prosecuted as individual crimes, not evidence of systemic fraud. Research has been consistent that voter fraud is infinitesimally rare and almost never occurs on a scale that would affect an election outcome, according to voting rights experts.

Why concern persists

While research has unequivocally demonstrated that there is essentially no voter fraud in US elections, the perception amongst Americans that it does exist is real.

Polling shows:

•A 2016 Washington Post poll found that 46 percent of Americans believe voter fraud occurred frequently in elections

•There has been little evidence of systematic voter fraud, yet a third of the public thinks there is a great deal of voter fraud and about 4 in 10 say there is some fraud

Reasons for the gap include dramatic media coverage of isolated cases, misinformation on social media, and political rhetoric. Researchers note that U.S. elections are decentralized - run by states and counties - with safeguards like paper ballots, signature verification, bipartisan poll workers, and post-election audits, making large-scale fraud very difficult to hide.

Bottom line: Voter fraud is prosecuted when it happens, but every major study from left-leaning (Brennan Center), conservative (Heritage Foundation), and nonpartisan government sources (CISA) agrees it occurs at rates of thousandths or millionths of a percent and has not been shown to alter modern federal election outcomes.

Citations (2)

1ucr.eduAcademic
Trump Rigged the Election: Uncovering the Truth
Backs: “Comprehensive reviews put the rate of voter fraud in federal contests at essentially zero for practical purposes - one well-known Brennan Center analysis estimated fraud rates between roughly 0.0003% and 0.0025% based on decades of data. A 2020 study by the Brennan Center also found mail-in ballot fraud rates were…”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: Brennan Center analysis estimated voter fraud rates between roughly 0.0003% and 0.0025% based on decades of data.
2swconnector.comCompanies
Minnesotans can feel confident in the safety of our elections
Backs: “Data from federal elections in Wisconsin over the last 20 years showed 69 instances of voter fraud among over 45 million ballots cast.”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: Wisconsin federal elections over 20 years showed 69 instances of voter fraud among over 45 million ballots cast.