Is voter fraud a problem in the US?
Is Voter Fraud a Problem in the US?
According to extensive research spanning decades, voter fraud exists in the United States but occurs at extraordinarily low rates and is not a significant problem affecting election outcomes.
What the Research Shows
Multiple independent studies using different methodologies consistently find similar results:
Academic research: Research conducted during the past two decades has concluded that there is no evidence of significant election fraud in contemporary American national elections.
Historical case studies: A seminal Brennan Center report found that most reported incidents of voter fraud are actually traceable to other sources, such as clerical errors or bad data matching practices, and found incident rates between 0.0003 percent and 0.0025 percent when reviewing meticulously studied elections.
Specific tallies: A comprehensive 2014 study published in The Washington Post found 31 credible instances of impersonation fraud from 2000 to 2014, out of more than 1 billion ballots cast.
Mail-in voting specifically: Research published by the Brookings Institute found that cases of mail-in voting fraud account for merely 0.000043% of all ballots cast by mail, equivalent to roughly four out of every 10 million.
Even conservative-leaning data sources: Using the Heritage Foundation's own database of fraud cases (which tends to count more cases than academic reviews), researchers found 1,561 instances of voter fraud that resulted in 1,325 convictions, with only 20 cases brought in 2024 — out of tens of millions of votes cast nationally each cycle. In a specific state example, Arizona had around 42.6 million votes cast with only 36 cases of fraud in total over 25 years.
Noncitizen voting claims: Recent investigations into this specific type of fraud also find it rare. For example, in Washington state, 15 cases of noncitizen voting have been prosecuted from 1982 through 2025, or about 0.000006% of ballots cast. Researchers also caution that "sweeping allegations about possible noncitizen registration or voting appear to arise from misunderstandings, mischaracterizations, or outright fabrications about complex voter data."
The Gap Between Perception and Reality
Despite this research consensus, public belief about fraud diverges significantly from documented rates. A 2024 national survey found that substantial proportions of U.S. registered voters believe that these types of election fraud are common, with Republicans consistently more likely to state that types of election fraud are common, even when controlling for other factors. The same study found conspiratorial thinking is strongly correlated with belief in the occurrence of types of election fraud, even when controlling for partisanship.
Bottom Line
The evidence from decades of studies — including government investigations, academic research, journalistic reviews, and even fraud databases maintained by conservative organizations — converges on the same conclusion: isolated cases of voter fraud do occur, but at rates so low (typically measured in thousandths or millionths of a percent) that they do not constitute a systemic problem capable of affecting election outcomes. The much larger disconnect is between these documented facts and widespread public perception that fraud is common.
Citations (10)
- 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...”
evidence, official document, points to no. Claim: Research over the past two decades has found no evidence of significant election fraud in contemporary American national elections.
- Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth
Source excerpt: “# Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth - The Brennan Center’s seminal report on this issue, *The Truth About Voter Fraud*, found that most reported incident...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: Brennan Center found most reported fraud traces to clerical errors or bad data matching, with incident rates of 0.0003 to 0.0025 percent.
- Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth
Source excerpt: “- A comprehensive 2014 study published in *The Washington Post* found 31 credible instances of impersonation fraud from 2000 to 2014, out of more than...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: A 2014 Washington Post study found 31 credible impersonation fraud instances from 2000 to 2014 among over 1 billion ballots.
- The Facts About Mail-In Voting Fraud
Source excerpt: “But Research Indicates Fraud Is Very, Very Rare ## Documented cases of mail voting fraud are extremely uncommon Research published by the Brookings In...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: Brookings research found mail-in voting fraud accounts for 0.000043% of mail ballots, roughly four in 10 million.
- 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...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: Heritage Foundation database found 1,561 fraud instances and 1,325 convictions, with only 20 cases brought in 2024.
- Voter Fraud in US Elections? What the Data and Research Shows - Newsweek
Source excerpt: “In the case of Arizona—one of the states most closely watched following the 2020 election—that meant around 42.6 million votes cast with only 36 cases...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: Arizona had about 42.6 million votes cast with only 36 fraud cases over 25 years.
- What research tells us about voter fraud - SciLine
Source excerpt: “### Use this tool to find voter fraud claims by state - In Washington state, 15 cases of noncitizen voting have been prosecuted from 1982 through 20...”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: Washington state prosecuted 15 noncitizen voting cases from 1982 through 2025, about 0.000006% of ballots.
- What research tells us about voter fraud - SciLine
Source excerpt: “- The Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), a nonprofit organization that tracks public claims of possible noncitizen voter registration...”
attribution, article, points to no. Claim: Researchers caution that sweeping noncitizen voting allegations stem from misunderstandings, mischaracterizations, or fabrications about complex voter data.
- www.frontiersin.org
Source excerpt: “In our analysis, we show that substantial proportions of U.S. registered voters believe that these types of election fraud are common. Our multivariat...”
evidence, article, neutral. Claim: A 2024 survey found substantial proportions of registered voters believe election fraud is common, with Republicans more likely to say so.
- www.frontiersin.org
Source excerpt: “We also find that conspiratorial thinking is strongly correlated with belief in the occurrence of types of election fraud, even when we control for pa...”
evidence, article, neutral. Claim: Conspiratorial thinking is strongly correlated with belief in election fraud occurrence, even controlling for partisanship.