Is voter fraud a problem in the US?

Based on an overwhelming body of academic research, government investigations, and bipartisan audits, voter fraud is not a widespread or systemic problem in the United States.

While isolated incidents of individuals committing fraud do occur, they are exceedingly rare and have not happened on a scale that could alter the outcome of a state or national election.

Below is a breakdown of what major studies, databases, and election officials have found regarding the prevalence of voter fraud in the U.S.

1. What the Data Shows

Independent, nonpartisan, and even conservative organizations have analyzed billions of ballots cast in U.S. elections over several decades. Their findings consistently show that voter fraud is "vanishingly rare":

•Mail-In Voting Fraud: A study by the Brookings Institution analyzed mail-in voting fraud in the 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022 general elections. They found that mail-in voting fraud occurred in about 0.000043% of cases—or roughly four cases for every 10 million mail-in ballots cast.

•The Heritage Foundation Database: The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, maintains a database of proven voter fraud cases to advocate for stricter voting laws. Over a span of roughly 44 years, during which billions of votes were cast, their database lists only about 1,500 proven cases of fraud. This averages out to roughly 33 cases per year nationwide, representing a tiny fraction of a percent of overall votes.

•In-Person Impersonation: A comprehensive study published by The Washington Post tracked cases of in-person voter impersonation (someone pretending to be another registered voter at the polls). It found just 31 credible instances out of more than 1 billion ballots cast between 2000 and 2014. Experts note that an American is statistically more likely to be struck by lightning than to commit in-person voter impersonation.

•Noncitizen Voting: Studies of voter rolls consistently show that voting by noncitizens is incredibly rare. For example, a Brennan Center for Justice study of 23.5 million votes cast across 42 jurisdictions in the 2016 election found only 30 suspected cases of noncitizen voting (0.0001%).

2. Audits of Disputed Elections

When major elections are closely contested, they are heavily scrutinized by both political parties and state officials.

Following the highly contested 2020 presidential election, the Associated Press conducted an exhaustive review of potential voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by Donald Trump (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin).

•Out of more than 25.5 million votes cast in those states, the review found fewer than 475 potential cases of fraud.

•Nearly all of these cases involved individuals acting alone (such as a person trying to vote on behalf of a recently deceased relative), and they were quickly caught by local election officials.

•This number of disputed votes was far too small to have impacted the outcome in any state.

Furthermore, dozens of legal challenges alleging widespread fraud in the 2020 election were dismissed by state and federal courts, including by judges appointed by both Democrats and Republicans, due to a total lack of evidence.

3. Why is Voter Fraud So Rare?

There are several reasons why committing voter fraud at a scale that could sway an election is nearly impossible:

•Decentralization: U.S. elections are not run by a single central authority. Instead, they are administered locally by thousands of individual counties and municipalities, each using different systems, security protocols, and ballot designs. Attempting to coordinate a conspiracy across these thousands of independent jurisdictions without being detected is practically impossible.

•Built-in Safeguards: States employ a wide range of security measures. For mail-in voting, these include unique outer-envelope barcodes, signature-verification processes, secure drop boxes, and bipartisan ballot processing. For in-person voting, poll books are updated in real-time, preventing people from voting multiple times.

•High Risk, Low Reward: The penalties for committing voter fraud are severe. At the federal level, it is a felony carrying penalties of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, plus severe consequences for noncitizens (such as immediate deportation). Risking prison time or deportation to add a single vote to a tally of millions makes no rational sense for an individual.

Clerical Errors vs. Intentional Fraud

Many claims of "widespread voter fraud" stem from a misunderstanding of administrative errors. For example, voter registration lists often contain outdated information, such as deceased individuals or people who have moved to another state.

While these represent clerical errors on administrative rolls, studies show they rarely result in illegal votes being cast. Having an outdated name on a voter roll is not the same as someone actually showing up and fraudulently voting under that name. When administrative errors or mistakes are made, they are usually detected and corrected during routine post-election canvassing and auditing.

Citations (8)

1projectvote.orgNonprofits and think tanks
projectvote.org
Backs: “Based on an overwhelming body of academic research, government investigations, and bipartisan audits, voter fraud is not a widespread or systemic problem in the United States.”
2electioninnovation.orgAcademic
electioninnovation.org
Backs: “Based on an overwhelming body of academic research, government investigations, and bipartisan audits, voter fraud is not a widespread or systemic problem in the United States.”
3wikipedia.orgEncyclopedias and referencequality 0.83
wikipedia.org
Backs: “While isolated incidents of individuals committing fraud do occur, they are exceedingly rare and have not happened on a scale that could alter the outcome of a state or national election.”
4brennancenter.orgNonprofits and think tanks
brennancenter.org
Backs: “Their findings consistently show that voter fraud is "vanishingly rare":”
5ballotpedia.orgEncyclopedias and referencequality 0.89
ballotpedia.org
Backs: “Mail-In Voting Fraud: A study by the Brookings Institution analyzed mail-in voting fraud in the 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022 general elections.”
6brookings.eduNonprofits and think tanks
brookings.edu
Backs: “The Heritage Foundation Database: The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, maintains a database of proven voter fraud cases to advocate for stricter voting laws. Over a span of roughly 44 years, during which billions of votes were cast, their database lists only about 1,500 proven cases of fraud.”
7brennancenter.orgNonprofits and think tanks
brennancenter.org
Backs: “In-Person Impersonation: A comprehensive study published by The Washington Post tracked cases of in-person voter impersonation (someone pretending to be another registered voter at the polls). It found just 31 credible instances out of more than 1 billion ballots cast between 2000 and 2014.”
8time.comNews and mediaquality 0.83
time.com
Backs: “For mail-in voting, these include unique outer-envelope barcodes, signature-verification processes, secure drop boxes, and bipartisan ballot processing. For in-person voting, poll books are updated in real-time, preventing people from voting multiple times.”