Is voter fraud a problem in the US?

NoSays it is contested

Is voter fraud a major issue in the US? I'll pull the latest research and data on its frequency.

Is voter fraud a problem in the US is a subject of extensive research and debate. The evidence from academic studies, government reviews, court cases and databases shows:

Documented fraud exists but at very low rates

Researchers consistently find fraud rates far below 1% of ballots, often below 0.002%:

•The Heritage Foundation, which warns about election security, keeps a database of proven fraud cases that it calls "a sampling." As of August 2026 it listed 1,619 cases spanning several decades. Set against the more than 1 billion votes cast in that time, that is under 0.0002% of ballots — roughly 1 in 600,000.

•A Brookings review of Heritage data found, for example, that in Arizona across 36 elections and 42.6 million ballots there were 36 documented cases — about 0.0000845% of ballots — and that no federal outcome was changed. The same Arizona figure is described as 36 cases out of 42,626,379 ballots — 0.0000845%, or about 1 in 1.2 million.

•An Associated Press review of the six disputed 2020 battleground states found fewer than 475 possible fraud cases out of more than 25 million ballots — under 0.002%.

•A U.S. Department of Justice review of the 2002–2004 federal elections could prove fraud in 0.00000013% of ballots and found no coordinated effort to tilt an election. A separate review of 84 million votes found 14 cases referred for prosecution.

•A study in The Washington Post found 31 credible cases of voter impersonation — voting in person as someone else — from 2000–2014, out of more than 1 billion ballots, about 0.000003%.

Mail ballots and non-citizen voting

Two categories often cited as risks have also been found to be rare:

•The Brookings Institution examined the 2016 to 2022 elections and found an average of about four fraud cases per 10 million postal votes, using a database kept by the conservative Heritage Foundation. That database has tallied 325 postal-ballot fraud convictions over the past 20 years.

•It is illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, and the Heritage database identified 24 such convictions between 2005 and 2025. A Reuters analysis found 129 people had been criminally charged over 30 years, with 73 convictions.

Other audits illustrate the pattern where non-citizen hits on large computer matches shrink after individual verification. For example:

•Utah Legislative Auditor matched two years of death certificates against the state voter list. Of Utah's 2 million-plus registered voters, over 1,400 likely deceased voters had not been removed and nearly 700 were still marked active. Checking all 1,400 for voting activity, auditors found 2 ballots cast.

No proven change to federal outcomes

Across every study cited in recent fact briefs, documented fraud runs below 0.002% of ballots cast — and in most, far below.

Reviews cited by Brookings and others conclude that documented fraud has not changed a federal election outcome, and recounts, audits, lawsuits, and contests in the 2020 battleground states did not change the presidential result.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) described the 2020 election as "the most secure in American history" with no evidence voting systems deleted, lost or changed votes, a finding cited in multiple government reviews.

Why the issue remains debated

•Proven cases do occur. The Heritage database and news investigations do document convictions for double voting, ballot harvesting, false registration, and non-citizen voting. Federal agencies continue to investigate and prosecute. For example, in October 2026 ICE announced the arrest of dozens of individuals in connection with alleged voter fraud and election-related offenses, including numerous cases of aliens admitting to unlawfully registering to vote or casting ballots.

•Database limits. Researchers note Heritage's count is not exhaustive and intentionally samples proven, prosecuted instances, so it cannot measure undetected fraud directly. Critics of restrictive voting laws argue that error rates in list-matching can overstate fraud, while proponents of stricter rules argue that even small numbers matter for close local races and trust.

•Public perception. Surveys show many Americans worry about fraud even as scholarly and investigative summaries conclude that voter fraud exists but is scarce and "infinitesimal" when measured against ballots cast.

Safeguards

U.S. elections are decentralized across thousands of state and local jurisdictions:

•In 2024, over 98% of election jurisdictions used voting equipment with a paper ballot or auditable paper record; 93% of states, territories and D.C. require voting-system testing and certification.

•Federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.

•Most states require post-election audits, signature or ID verification for mail ballots, ballot tracking, and chain-of-custody procedures.

Bottom line in research: Multiple independent reviews - from the Brennan Center, Brookings using Heritage data, Associated Press, MIT and others - find voter fraud is extremely rare on the scale of U.S. elections (often a few cases per million ballots) and has not been shown to have altered a federal election result, though isolated cases are regularly found and prosecuted.

Citations (2)

1claimyourvoterpower.orgNot yet classified
Election Fraud & Security — ClaimYourVoterPower.org Fact Brief
Backs: “The Heritage Foundation, which warns about election security, keeps a database of proven fraud cases that it calls "a sampling." As of August 2026 it listed 1,619 cases spanning several decades. Set against the more than 1 billion votes cast in that time, that is under 0.0002% of ballots — roughly 1 in 600,000.”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: Heritage database lists 1,619 proven fraud cases over decades, under 0.0002% of more than 1 billion votes cast.
2aseannow.comNot yet classified
Trump says US voter fraud is rampant; evidence says rare
Backs: “The Brookings Institution examined the 2016 to 2022 elections and found an average of about four fraud cases per 10 million postal votes, using a database kept by the conservative Heritage Foundation.”
statistic, article, points to no. Claim: Brookings found about four fraud cases per 10 million postal votes using the Heritage Foundation database.