Election Fraud Schemes

Election fraud in the United States includes practices like voter impersonation, mail-in ballot fraud, and double voting, but these instances remain rare due to strong safeguards. Public perception often overestimates the prevalence of fraud, influenced by misinformation, yet documented cases show electoral integrity is generally well-maintained.

Understanding Election Fraud

Grasping the intricacies of electoral fraud is essential to comprehend the layers of protection that safeguard the electoral process. In the United States, electoral fraud takes many forms—from voters pretending to be someone else, to the not-so-well-known fraud of voting twice. Some personas are less well-known, but they exist. Manipulating mail-in ballots is another. The frontrunner of these tactics, though, is unchained overbearing on the part of some states.

Voter impersonation involves pretending to be another person to cast a vote, but it’s notably rare. Studies and investigations have shown minimal instances of this, with only a handful of cases over the years. Severities for those caught can include imprisonment. Voter ID laws have been introduced in some states as a preventative measure, yet they face criticism for potentially impacting legitimate voter turnout.

Mail-in ballot fraud raises concerns due to the belief that it’s more vulnerable to tampering compared to in-person voting. Signature verification and election audits add layers of security to mail-in voting. Actual fraudulent cases remain exceedingly low.

Double voting, when an individual votes more than once in an election, is illegal and infrequent. Safeguards including digital systems and audits help detect and prevent such actions, bolstering the integrity of votes cast.

The strong protections we have against electoral fraud mean that it is extremely rare in the United States and almost nonexistent at the national level. Most documented cases have happened at the local level and in the more distant past, with notable instances of absentee ballot fraud in our recent history, such as in the 1997 Miami mayoral election. Those committed to advancing the cause of electoral integrity and ensuring that even the appearance of fairness and accuracy in elections is maintained have to be increasingly on guard because the electoral fraud bogeyman is being used to advance the cause of electoral suppression. Strong safeguards have historically decreased instances of electoral fraud. As legal expert and former U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman remarked, “The potential for voter fraud is exaggerated, but the impact of suppressive laws can be very real” (Ballotpedia).

These revelations shed light on the ongoing conversation concerning election fraud, the perceived dangers of which must also be balanced against the established and rare occurrence of actual fraud, and make clear the legal structures that are set up to keep our elections fair and free.

Public Perception vs. Reality

When discussing election fraud, beliefs and verified facts are often far apart. What we think we know about election fraud is frequently the product of not knowing a whole lot at all, combined with the half or whole truths of political rhetoric (and sometimes just plain BS). We have been led to believe that election fraud is a problem we need to worry about, and this belief seems pretty well enshrined in our political discourse. … So let’s start with some basics: what’s known for sure about the actual incidence of election fraud, which also happens to be a pretty good proxy for what’s not known at all, and what has been found or alleged with varying degrees of seriousness in the past?

These perceptions are significantly affected by political partisanship. For example, studies have found that voters who supported Donald Trump in the 2020 U.S. presidential election were more prone to believe that there had been widespread fraud when, in fact, there hadn’t. By contrast, studies have found that voters who supported Joe Biden were much less likely to believe that a significant number of fraudulent votes had been cast for Trump.

The impact of imperfect academic research cannot be overlooked. It can worsen political polarization and diminish trust in democratic processes. A recent instance occurred in South Korea, where the incorrect analysis of election data drew a much too “edifying” conclusion, resulting in a pretty significant erosion of public confidence, even after South Korean statisticians stepped in to clarify the matter.

Misinformation will always be with us. Well-meaning people will sometimes act in harmful ways simply because they think they’re right, and the increased ease and speed with which we can now share information can, in some instances, lead to increased credulity. That’s not to say, of course, that all or even most instances of harmful sharing fall into that category. Still, the role of credulity is what makes correcting harmful information a necessary entry point for any serious conversation about improving the integrity of the electoral process.

How Election Officials Maintain Integrity

Ensuring elections are fair and secure involves several layers of protection and watchfulness. Officials in the various jurisdictions that comprise the United States employ many different methods to safeguard the act of voting and the result that it produces, with the aim of ensuring that the process is both secure and reliable.

A crucial part of protecting elections involves the installation of voter ID laws. These laws exist in many forms across our varied states; some ask for a little, some for a lot. The ask is not beyond the reach of the average voter, however. In all forms, the laws settle on this: the authenticating of the voter. Kids at summer camp do more to ensure the integrity of campfire songs than the states that do nothing to ensure the integrity of the vote.

For a long time, the focus has been on ensuring the security of ballot drop boxes. People have expressed concerns, but these boxes have been used for a long time and, when managed using effective techniques, have been as secure as any voting method. Electing to use a drop box does not mean choosing an insecure method when compared to some other techniques, like using a mail-in ballot.

Ensuring the precision of voter rolls is tough. It becomes even tougher when you consider that some individuals move about the country and, in doing so, may not always cancel their old registrations. Some of these folks may be registered in more than one state. And while what I’m about to say may come as a surprise to some, voting in more than one state is illegal and virtually unheard of.

The people in charge of administering elections contend with misunderstandings about voting and the potential for fraud. One such misunderstanding is that deceased people vote in large numbers. This is certainly not the case. In fact, the number of people we know for sure have voted posthumously is so small that it could hardly be said to have affected any election’s outcome. Nevertheless, we have a pretty good system for catching this and other potential frauds, which also serves the purpose of making people feel good about the results.

A nice video produced by the commission doesn’t hurt either.

Ensuring the electoral process is free from interference requires the close collaboration of election officials and law enforcement. As Maribeth Behl, a former official at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, emphasized, “Mitigating potential threats to elections requires close and effective collaboration with law enforcement.”

Election officials put in a lot of elbow grease to ensure that the process is trustworthy. They have robust ways of telling that the people casting ballots are really the people who should be casting them. They have good ways of making sure that when a ballot is cast, it is handled securely from that moment on. And they work with some good partners in doing all these things to maintain and even bolster public confidence in this part of the democratic system.

Reporting and Addressing Election Crimes

To protect democracy, we must take informed actions to maintain the integrity of elections. This is not a time to be reactive or to simply trust that everything will go smoothly. We must be vigilant and act where we see possible voter fraud or suspect it might happen. We must be ready to report possible election crimes. And we must know how to do these things so that we can act in clear conscience and with the society’s electoral rights as our goal.

Voting rights and election integrity are among the most discussed—indeed, the most contested—issues in America today. They are the scenes of the daily drama of American life. What happens at the polls in a given jurisdiction is the most local of local affairs, and the consequences ripple out into the broader political community.”

If you suspect something is amiss, let your state or territory election office know. You can find contact information for your office in the handy directories available at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission website. For complaints about federal voting rights violations, reach out to the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. They take such complaints seriously, and you can find their contact information on their website.

If you want to ensure that your complaint makes it to the right place, definitely use the contact information provided on the website for the Division of Civil Rights at the Department of Justice. They handle complaints about violations of federal voting rights and work with the right authorities to investigate.

You can report misinformation or disinformation instances to the Center for Internet Security. When you do so, send your report to a secure, official channel. These organizations ensure that the elections are secure and that they are also transparent.

Understanding their rights and the safeguards in place is critical for voters. They need to know how protected they are when it comes to casting their ballots and whether or not they will face intimidation during the process. Both types of Resources provide excellent in-depth information.

Ensuring election integrity is as core to the democracy as anything can be. The reason for this is simple: In a democracy, the people govern. And the means by which the people govern is by voting. If the votes do not count and the election itself is subject to rigging, then the severest sort of injustice has been visited upon the citizenry.

FAQ

What are the types of election fraud?

Fraud in elections can take a variety of forms, including when a person attempts to cast a vote using the identity of another person. Voting by mail—still a relatively new method for many voters—was somewhat vulnerable to tampering, though actual cases of such tampering have been minimal. Very few people vote twice in the same election, but those who do break the law; they are caught and prosecuted.

How common is voter impersonation in the United States?

In the United States, voter impersonation is exceptionally uncommon. Research and inquiry have revealed very few occurrences, with only some reported incidents over the years.

What measures are in place to prevent mail-in ballot fraud?

As preventive measures against fraudulent voting by mail, states often employ two main security methods: signature verification and election audits.

How do election officials ensure the integrity of elections?

There are several layers of security that the officials put in place, such as requiring voters to show identification, ensuring that the ballots are handled securely, and conducting audits and verification processes after the fact.

Is election fraud as widespread as people think?

Even though the public may believe otherwise, the actual occurrence of election fraud is really low. The perceived fraud is mostly due to unfounded claims, spread by some elements of the political right and by some private groups, who have made a pretense of investigating parts of the election process and who have found no more incriminating evidence than an actual investigative team would find if it were to investigate half of any given private luncheon.

How can individuals report election crimes?

If people want to report election crimes, they should get in touch with their state or territory election office, or the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission can point you in the right direction, with helpful information and the various contact numbers you might need.

What role does misinformation play in public perception of election fraud?

Public perception can be significantly influenced by misinformation, and this influence can lead to the formation of a biased public belief. A belief can be formed based on misleading or incomplete information, as has happened in the case of public perception regarding election fraud. Misinformation has been spread for years about the legitimacy of elections. Public belief reports, like the one shown in the PRRI graphic above, indicate that nearly half of the population believes that elections are not conducted fairly and that the outcomes are not always legitimate. Correcting this misinformation with believable reporting stories can help restore some trust in the electoral processes.

What is the impact of political partisanship on beliefs about election fraud?

Beliefs about election fraud are heavily influenced by political partisanship. For instance, research has demonstrated that supporters of Donald Trump during the 2020 U.S. Presidential election were much more inclined to think that fraud had taken place compared to supporters of Joe Biden.