U.S. election officials and scholars said voter fraud occurs at a very low frequency across the United States [1].
These findings are critical as they counter misinformation and conspiracy theories regarding election security. By demonstrating that fraud is uncommon, experts said that current integrity checks are sufficient to maintain the validity of the democratic process [1, 5].
Evidence from several states supports the conclusion that fraud is an isolated occurrence rather than a systemic issue. In North Carolina, experts said that voter fraud is rare [2]. Similar conclusions were drawn from data in New Jersey, where non-citizen voter disclosures were cited as evidence that the system works [3].
Detailed data from Ohio provides a specific look at the gap between flagged irregularities and actual crimes. Between 2019 and 2023, 521 non-citizens were flagged in the state [4]. However, during that same period, only one non-citizen was actually charged and cleared [4].
Analysts including CNN analyst Marshall Cohen and Dr. Lorraine C. Minnite said these patterns illustrate the rarity of such events [1, 2]. While some reports characterize voter fraud as a myth used to justify vote suppression [5], others said that while it does occur, it remains limited to isolated cases [2].
These documented instances are often used by officials to explain how the current system identifies errors. The small number of charges relative to the number of flagged individuals suggests that most irregularities are administrative, or accidental, rather than intentional attempts to subvert an election [4].
“Voter fraud occurs at a very low frequency across the United States”
The disparity between the number of flagged voters and actual prosecutions suggests that the U.S. election infrastructure is capable of filtering out ineligible voters. This data indicates that while administrative errors occur, they rarely translate into illegal votes that could alter election outcomes.
