Voter fraud

{{bronze}}[[File:votefraudbillboard.jpg|thumb|165px|right|Now why would these billboards have appeared in [[African American|black]] neighborhoods of Cincinnati but not the white neighborhoods? Hmm…]]{{crimenav}}{{Ctransquote|I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this—who will count the votes, and how.|Russian|Я считаю, что совершенно неважно, кто и как будет в партии голосовать; но вот что чрезвычайно важно, это - кто и как будет считать голоса.|||[[Joseph Stalin]]<ref>[http://lib.ru/MEMUARY/BAZHANOW/stalin.txt ''Борис Бажанов. Воспоминания бывшего секретаря Сталина''] (1980) Всемирное слово.</ref>}}

'''Voter fraud''' is a type of [[moral panic]] that is popular in the [[United States]]. As genuine cases of it are almost nonexistent, it's almost always a [[dog whistle]] term for people of color voting. Actual cases of voter fraud fall into three broad categories: a single person voting multiple times in a single election, an ineligible person voting (e.g., non-citizen or non-resident), or a person casting a ballot in someone else's name without written authorization. The more-broadly defined '''electoral fraud''' can also include such things as vote buying, false disenfranchisement, ballot destruction, duplicate counting of ballots (ballot stuffing), or tampering with voting machines.

In functioning [[democracies]], voter fraud is by definition a rare event,<ref>[https://freedomhouse.org/issues/election-integrity Election Integrity] ''Freedom House''. "Free and fair elections are a foundational component of political freedom. There is more to democracy than free and fair elections, but there can be no democracy without them."</ref> usually to the point where it does not affect the outcome of election.<ref>[https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/truth-about-voter-fraud The Truth About Voter Fraud] by Justin Levitt (November 9, 2007) ''Brennan Center for Justice''.</ref> On the other hand, the more authoritarian the government, the more likely it is that electoral fraud is part of all elections, e.g.:
*100% of Iraqis voted for [[Saddam Hussein]].<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/16/iraq Saddam scores 100% in leadership ballot] (16 Oct 2002 10.15 EDT) ''The Guardian''.</ref>
*Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of [[Turkmenistan]] got 97%.<ref>[https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/02/13/the-dictators-dilemma-to-win-with-95-percent-or-99/ The dictator’s dilemma: To win with 95 percent or 99?] by Joshua Keating (February 13, 2012, 7:27 PM) ''Foreign Policy''.</ref>
*Poor Alexander Lukashenko of [[Belarus]] only got 80%.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53721410 Belarus election: Opposition disputes Lukashenko landslide win] (10 August 2020) ''BBC''.</ref>

Baseless or mostly-baseless allegations of voter fraud in the United States have been used as a proxy for racially-motivated restrictions on voting because of the [[Reconstruction]]-era Fifteenth Amendment to the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]] that forbids race-based voting restrictions:<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|300}}
{{cquote|The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.}}
Voter fraud allegations as a rationale for racially-biased voting restrictions was used by [[White nationalist]] [[The South|southern]] [[Democrats]] starting in the late 19<sup>th</sup> century to restrict the voting power of [[African Americans]], and continued as a nationwide [[Republican Party]] tactic after [[Dixiecrat]]s moved ''en masse'' into the Republican Party.<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|300-302}} 

[[Image:Onozomg.gif|thumb|We must have tamper-proof biometric ID cards, otherwise illegal aliens and felons will intimidate your pure 
bodily fluids
 white daughters at the polling station!]]

A widespread belief persists of hordes of [[illegal immigrant]]s and homeless people being bused around from one polling place to another on election day. This claim has been used as an excuse to pass [[voter ID laws]], abolish same-day voter registration, require birth certificates when registering to vote, and conduct frequent purges of the voter rolls. Even if voter fraud actually ''was'' a significant problem, [[Security theater|few (if any) of these measures would actually be effective in preventing it]].

In the US, polling indicates that belief of voter fraud being widespread is highly correlated with belief in [[Christian nationalism]].<ref name=perry>[https://religionnews.com/2022/01/05/violence-isnt-the-only-way-christian-nationalism-endangers-democracy/ Violence isn’t the only way Christian nationalism endangers democracy: The threat of voter suppression is perhaps more destructive because its influence is more subtle and its effects more consequential.] by Samuel L. Perry (January 5, 2022) ''Religion News Service''.</ref> Christian nationalists such as Paul Weyrich, co-founder of [[Moral Majority]], have also spoken in favor of voter suppression measures in what they call "leverage" to exclude likely demographics that might oppose [[theocracy]].<ref name=perry/><ref>''The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy'' by Philip S. Gorski et al. (2022) Oxford University Press. ISBN 0197618685.</ref>

==As a proxy for racism==
In 1890, Judge J. J. Chrisman went so far as to state during the 1890 Mississippi Convention that implemented [[Jim Crow]]-based voting restriction (poll tax and literacy tests) for voting in the state:<ref name=silver>''Mississippi: The Closed Society'' by James W. Silver (2012) University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781617033124.</ref>{{rp|16}}<ref>[https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/mississippi-constitutional-convention-of-1890/ Mississippi Constitutional Convention of 1890] ''Mississippi Encyclopedia''.</ref>
{{cquote|It is no secret that there has not been a full vote and a fair count in [[Mississippi]] since 1875 that we have been preserving the ascendancy of the white people by revolutionary methods. In plain words we have been stuffing the ballot boxes, committing perjury, and… carrying the elections by fraud and violence until the whole machinery was about to rot down. No man can be in favor of the election methods which have prevailed… who is not a moral idiot.}}
Despite this, Chrisman argued that [[Blaming the victim|banning Blacks from voting would be the solution to Whites committing massive voter fraud]].<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|302}}<ref>''In the Name of God and Country: Reconsidering Terrorism in American History'' by Michael Fellman (2010) Yale University Press. ISBN 0300115105.</ref>{{rp|139}} The date of 1875 is noteworthy because that was when the "Mississippi Plan" was created by White southern Democrats to disenfranchise Black citizens (by the racially-biased poll tax and literacy tests), and led to the period of Jim Crow segregation until the Civil Rights era in the 1960s.<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|302}}<ref>{{wpa|Mississippi Plan}}</ref> The [[Supreme Court]] even approved such measures as late as 1959 in ''Williams v. Mississippi''.<ref>{{wpa|Williams v. Mississippi|''Williams v. Mississippi''}}</ref>

As the Jim Crow era began coming to an end, Black voters began leaving the Party of [[Lincoln]] ([[GOP]]) for the Democratic Party, making the GOP increasingly White. The GOP struggled to win in cities, and concluded from the results of the 1960 election that a new strategy was needed.<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|304-305}} Thus was born {{wpl|Operation Eagle Eye (United States)|Operation Eagle Eye|,}} which focused on the 1964 election in [[Arizona]], which was based on a scheme led by future Supreme Court Justice [[William Rehnquist]]{{efn|Rehnquist was appointed Associate Supreme Court Justice by Richard Nixon, and later as Chief Justice by Ronald Reagan.}} in the 1962 election in Phoenix.<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|304}} The scheme consisted of:<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|304}}
*"Caging", sending mail to registered voters and using any returned mail as the basis for challenging the legitimacy of registrations
*Sending deceptive mailers and phone calls to registered Democrats, stating that they would be arrested if they have a traffic violation and they vote, or telling them to vote for [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], who was not on the ballot
*Sending GOP "poll watchers" to polling places, specifically to harass minority voters, including both people with "Ballot Security" armbands and uniformed-and-armed off-duty police officers
Operation Eagle Eye became a blueprint for future voter suppression strategies.<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|304-305}}

Ronald Reagan began a campaign in 1975 against poor and urban people voting, with the implicit idea that they're likely to commit voter fraud,<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|305}}<ref>[https://time.com/5881305/president-carter-election-reform/ Jimmy Carter Tried to Make It Easier to Vote in 1977. The Right Stopped Him With the Same Arguments It’s Using Today] by Rick Perlstein (August 20, 2020 3:32 PM EDT) ''Time''.</ref> later demonizing the poor as '[[welfare queens]]'.

In 1980, Paul Weyrich, co-founder of the [[Heritage Foundation]], went further than Reagan in saying that voter suppression was the key to Republicans winning elections, and opposing what he called "Goo-Goo Syndrome" (good government).<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|306}}<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GBAsFwPglw Paul Weyrich - "I don't want everybody to vote" (Goo Goo)] by People For the American Way (Jun 8, 2007) ''YouTube''.</ref>

In 1981, the national and state GOP revived the 1964 Operation Eagle Eye tactics in [[New Jersey]], with the GOP claiming without evidence that there was a tradition of urban vote fraud. The election sites in minority districts were again patrolled by GOP members and armed off-duty police who harassed poll workers and would-be voters.<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|306}}<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/11/08/democrats-accuse-gop-of-intimidating-minorities-in-nj-voting/9cfb873d-7c3e-44ea-beb9-4c9b5d9ab5a1/ Democrats Accuse GOP of Intimidating Minorities in N.J. Voting] by Robert Joffee (November 8, 1981) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>

False claims that there had been voter fraud in St. Louis, [[Missouri]] in the [[2000 U.S. presidential election]] were made by a Mark "Thor" Hearne, [[George W. Bush|Bush]]/[[Dick Cheney|Cheney]] representative, and Missouri Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond. The Board of Elections had erroneously removed 50,000 registered voters, and a court had ordered extended voting hours to remedy the situation after the voters had been restored to the election roll. Hearne and Bond had claimed that the court order represented fraud, Bond used his false allegation to write part of the Help America Vote Act, which allowed individual states to require identification to vote.<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|306-307}} Voter identification is regarded by the Brennan Center for Justice as a form of vote suppression targeted at minorities.<ref>[https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/impact-voter-suppression-communities-color The Impact of Voter Suppression on Communities of Color: Studies show that new laws will disproportionately harm voters of color. Federal legislation is necessary.] (January 10, 2022) ''Brennan Center for Justice''.</ref>

Indiana became the first state to pass a voter ID law in 2006.<ref>[https://www.propublica.org/article/everything-youve-ever-wanted-to-know-about-voter-id-laws Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Voter ID Laws: More than 30 states have enacted some version of voter ID law in recent years. How much do these laws change voting rules and what impact could they have on the general election?] by Suevon Lee & Sarah Smith (March 9, 2016, 8:33 a.m. EST) ''Pro Publica''.</ref> This was despite there being no known instance of voter fraud in [[Indiana]].<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|309}} In 2007, Judge Terence T. Evans dissented on the constitutionality of the law in a circuit court ruling, stating, "Let's not beat around the bush: The Indiana voter photo ID law is a not-too-thinly veiled attempt to discourage election-day turnout by certain folks believed to skew Democratic."<ref>[https://www.courthousenews.com/justices-agree-to-review-state-voter-id-laws/ Justices Agree To Review State Voter ID Laws] (December 26, 2007) ''Courthouse News''.</ref> Judge Richard A. Posner, who had ruled in favor of its constitutionality in the circuit court, later said that he regretted writing the majority opinion, stating that often "judges aren’t given the facts that they need to make a sound decision."<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/us/politics/judge-in-landmark-case-disavows-support-for-voter-id.html Judge in Landmark Case Disavows Support for Voter ID] by John Schwartz (October 15, 2013) ''The New York Times''.</ref> When it was appealed again, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the majority opinion that ruled the law as constitutional, but later said that it was "a fairly unfortunate decision."<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|309}}

[[Belief]] that voter fraud occurs in the US is common, particularly among Republicans.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/15/poll-nearly-half-of-americans-say-voter-fraud-occurs-often/ Poll: Nearly half of Americans say voter fraud occurs often] by Emily Guskin & Scott Clement (September 15, 2016 at 7:00 a.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> Despite this, it has been documented that only 31 credible incidents of voter impersonation occurred out of 1 billion ballots cast between 2000 and 2014.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/08/06/a-comprehensive-investigation-of-voter-impersonation-finds-31-credible-incidents-out-of-one-billion-ballots-cast/ A comprehensive investigation of voter impersonation finds 31 credible incidents out of one billion ballots cast] by Justin Levitt (August 6, 2014 at 6:00 a.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>

In 2016, [[Donald Trump]] poured fuel onto the fire of the myth of rampant voter fraud, in large part due to his bruised ego from winning the [[Electoral College]] but losing the popular vote. After he entered the White House, he created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity to investigate the "fraud" of how he lost the popular vote.<ref name=anderson/>{{rp|310}} The commission decamped without producing any credible evidence. Its sole product included an outline of preordained conclusions.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/08/03/the-most-bizarre-thing-ive-ever-been-a-part-of-trump-panel-found-no-voter-fraud-ex-member-says/ ‘The most bizarre thing I’ve ever been a part of’: Trump panel found no widespread voter fraud, ex-member says] by Eli Rosenberg (August 3, 2018 at 11:29 p.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> This could be regarded as a prelude to {{sl|2020|Trump's allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election}}, in which he lost ''both'' the Electoral College and the popular vote.

===Some modern examples===
Modern-day allegations to "[[Paranoia|panic]]" about thinly-veiled race-based "voter fraud" include:
*[[ACORN]] — despite any evidence sorely lacking, the "ACORN engaged in voter fraud" allegation has been [[Argumentum ad nauseam|repeated so many times]] that people now make an automatic mental connection between ACORN and voter fraud. (For example, [[Ballotpedia]], a supposedly [[Neutral point of view|neutral]] wiki that engages in the [[balance fallacy]]{{efn|Ballotpedia, for example, engages in the balance fallacy by giving equal weight to the [[Heritage Foundation]] and the {{wpl|Brennan Center for Justice||.}}<ref name=ballotpedia/>}} about elections and candidates which is actually funded with [[Koch Industries]] money,<ref>[https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ballotpedia#LBI_Staff_Connections_to_Right-Wing_Organizations_and_Koch_Network Ballotpedia: LBI Staff Connections to Right-Wing Organizations and Koch Network] ''The Center for Media and Democracy''.</ref> has 9 separate pages devoted to different types of "election fraud"<ref name=ballotpedia>[https://ballotpedia.org/Electoral_fraud Electoral fraud] ''Ballotpedia''.</ref> as well as a separate one for ACORN.<ref>[https://ballotpedia.org/ACORN_and_voter_registration_fraud ACORN] ''Ballotpedia''.</ref>) What the people making these allegations ''really'' don't like is that ACORN was registering Black people ''to'' vote.
*"Felons voting" — felons ''can'' legally vote in most [[state]]s, and in most of them restoration of voting rights is automatic upon completion of their sentence. There are still a few lone holdouts still imposing lifelong voting bans on some or all felons or requiring a cumbersome petition instead of making restoration automatic. The trend in the last two decades has been to repeal those disenfranchisement laws. What the people raising this claim ''really'' don't like is the fact that Black people are voting.
*Intimidation of voters at the polls by the [[New Black Panther Party]]. This stems from a lone incident in [[Philadelphia]],<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-seeks-injunction-against-new-black-panther-party Justice Department Seeks Injunction Against New Black Panther Party] (January 7, 2009) ''The United States Department of Justice''.</ref> which has been mentioned so many times in the reactionary [[media]], way out of proportion to its actual newsworthiness, that people believe it is widespread.
*[[Illegal immigration]] in general. The "illegal immigrants voting" claim has been used by the [[John Tanton]] network of immigration-restriction groups as a pretext to support voter ID laws, as part of their broader agenda of promoting tamper-proof ID cards through the [[REAL ID Act]] and eventually a national ID card, which they view as key to stopping illegal immigration. One of the first of the current rash of voter ID laws (Arizona Proposition 200 in 2004) was promoted almost entirely as an anti-illegal immigration measure. In a 2020 analysis, the [[libertarian]] [[Cato Institute]] debunked the idea that non-citizen voting had any influence on election outcomes.<ref>[https://www.cato.org/blog/noncitizens-dont-illegally-vote-detectable-numbers Noncitizens Don’t Illegally Vote in Detectable Numbers] by Alex Nowrasteh (November 25, 2020 11:52AM) ''Cato Institute''.</ref>
:In 2022, Arizona passed a Republican-led proof-of-citizenship law for voting eligibility.<ref>[https://www.democracydocket.com/cases/arizona-citizenship-requirement-challenge/ Arizona Citizenship Requirement Challenge (Mi Familia Vota)] (March 31, 2022) ''Democracy Docket''.</ref> In September 2024, it was discovered that almost 100,000 registered voters in Arizona did not have proof of citizenship on file. Key Republicans in Arizona curiously opposed the removal of the 100,000 voters from the voting rolls before the November election. The apparent reason for this reversal was the further discovery that 37% were Republicans, 27% were Democrats, and 35% were independents or minor parties,<ref>[https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/09/19/arizona-republicans-backtrack-proof-citizenship-voter-requirement/75283418007/ AZ GOP wanted voters to prove citizenship. With legislative control at risk, it's pivoting] by Ray Stern (Sept. 19, 2024) ''AZ Central''.</ref> indicating that for Republicans, [[Hypocrisy|it's all about power, not principle]]. A few days later, further analysis of the voter rolls found that there were 218,000 people (1 in 20 voters) in Arizona who did show evidence of proof of citizenship. The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the affected voters will not be disenfranched in the 2024 election.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/arizona-citizenship-voting-rights-b2622321.html Number of Arizonans impacted by glitch threatening voting rights climbs to more than 200,000: Democratic officials fear database error could give Republicans ammunition for bogus lawsuits to undermine election results] by Alex Woodward (October 1, 2024) ''Independent''.</ref>

==Dead man's vote==
[[File:Zombies NightoftheLivingDead.jpg|thumb|165px|right|We have awoken from our eternal slumber to feast on the brains of the living… and to vote for [[Joe Biden]].]]

What started out as a joke in some states became an actual conspiracy theory. Claims that dead people 
were rising from their graves to cast ballots
 somehow turning in ballots are largely overblown. People sometimes end up casting a ballot in their name, but this most commonly is the result of an internal error and not fraud. Some examples of things that can happen:

*A person [[Mitch McConnell|is somehow, in fact, still alive]]. This claim that they're dead usually stems from the fact that their date of birth on the registry is very old.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54874120 Goodman, Jack, et al. “US Election 2020: The 'Dead Voters' in Michigan Who Are Still Alive.” ''BBC News'', BBC, 14 Nov. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54874120. Retrieved 17 Nov. 2020]</ref> 
*When states shifted to digital voter rolls, people who lacked a date of birth on their form were given a placeholder in some states when digitized.<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/ap-fact-check-election-dead-voter-claims-fc7ba254fd37059f63ea764c18c2a4cb Lajka, Arijeta. “Election Breathes New Life into False 'Dead Voter' Claims.” ''AP NEWS'', Associated Press, 10 Nov. 2020, apnews.com/article/ap-fact-check-election-dead-voter-claims-fc7ba254fd37059f63ea764c18c2a4cb. Retrieved 17 Nov. 2020]</ref>
*Someone has the same name as a dead person, usually someone who shares the same name as their deceased parent.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54811410 BBC Reality Check Team “US Election 2020: Five Viral Vote Claims Fact-Checked.” ''BBC News'', BBC, 9 Nov. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54811410. Retrieved 17 Nov. 2020]</ref><ref>[https://www.kmov.com/news/claims-that-dead-people-voted-went-viral-these-are-the-facts/article_b1ae3051-9c49-530d-bbfd-9efd193ce31d.html Toropin, Konstantin, ''et al.'' “Claims That Dead People Voted Went Viral. These Are the Facts.” ''CNN Business'', 8 Nov. 2020, www.kmov.com/news/claims-that-dead-people-voted-went-viral-these-are-the-facts/article_b1ae3051-9c49-530d-bbfd-9efd193ce31d.html. Retrieved 17 Nov. 2020]</ref>
*Signatures on a roster may end up going into other rows, causing a computer to mistakenly think that the marks in the other rows are the signatures of other people.<ref>[www.euronews.com/2020/11/12/debunked-dead-voters-ballots-not-evidence-of-widespread-us-election-fraud Debunked: Dead Voters' Ballots Not Evidence of Major Election Fraud.] by Matthew Holroyd (12 Nov. 2020) ''Euronews''.</ref>
*Very rarely, a person may legally cast an absentee ballot, but dies before the votes are counted. In these cases, seventeen states will not count the ballot, but the rest will.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/some-states-count-ballots-if-voter-dies-election-day-n1243975 ''Associated Press.'' “‘Some States Count Ballots If Voter Dies before Election Day.’” ''NBCNews.com'', NBCUniversal News Group, 20 Oct. 2020, www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/some-states-count-ballots-if-voter-dies-election-day-n1243975. Retrieved 17 Nov. 2020]</ref>

People casting ballots in a dead person's name is still possible, but it's incredibly rare. One rather spectacular example of this actually happening was in (where else?) [[Fun:Florida|Florida]], where the 1997 mayoral election in Miami had so many dead people's votes they actually had to ''rerun the election''.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/05/us/fraud-ruling-invalidates-miami-mayoral-election.html</ref><ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/29/us/18-are-arrested-in-1997-miami-ballot-fraud.html</ref>

==The Trump era==
===Republican Party election strategy===
{{cquote|The truth is that over all those years Republicans found only isolated incidents of fraud. Proof of systematic fraud has become the [[Loch Ness Monster]] of the Republican Party. People have spent a lot of time looking for it, but it doesn’t exist.|||Republican lawyer Benjamin L. Ginsberg<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/01/ben-ginsberg-voter-suppression-republicans/ My party is destroying itself on the altar of Trump] by Benjamin L. Ginsberg (November 1, 2020 at 4:35 p.m. EST) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>}}
The Republican Party's strategy on elections has increasingly boiled down to "Heads, I won, tails, you lost." Or, "if I won, there was no voter fraud; if you won, there was voter fraud." This un[[democratic]] strategy dates back at least as far as [[Richard Nixon]]'s defeat by [[John F. Kennedy]] in 1960.<ref name=epstein>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220531144103/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/31/us/politics/republicans-voter-fraud-claims-2022.html They Insisted the 2020 Election Was Tainted. Their 2022 Primary Wins? Not So Much. Republicans are accepting their primary victories with little concern about the voter fraud they once falsely claimed caused Donald J. Trump’s loss.] by Reid J. Epstein and Nick Corasaniti (May 31, 2022, 10:25 a.m. ET) ''The New York Times''.</ref> Starting with the 2020 election, this tactic became weaponized by Trump,<ref name=anderson>"Voter Fraud" by Carol Anderson. In: ''Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past'', edited by Kevin M. Kruse & Julian E. Zelizer (2022) Basic Books. {{isbn|1541601394}}. Pages 299-311.</ref>{{rp|299}} who could not accept the idea that a majority of U.S. citizens hated him for good reason. Insurrectionist<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/10/mo-brooks-jan6-eric-swalwell-lawsuit-insurrection/ Mo Brooks urged a Jan. 6 crowd to ‘fight.’ Now his actions long before the insurrection face new scrutiny.] by Michael Kranish (January 10, 2022) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> and Republican Congressman [[Mo Brooks]] even made this strategy fairly explicit to ''[[The New York Times]]'', claiming that only Democrats commit fraud: "I'm in a Republican primary, and noncitizens don't normally vote in Republican primaries. In a Republican primary or a Democrat primary, the motivation to steal elections is less because the candidates' philosophy-of-government differences are minor."<ref name=epstein/><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/01/mo-brooks-trump-gop-vote-fraud-scam/ Hapless Trumpist Mo Brooks gives away the GOP ‘vote fraud’ scam] by Greg Sargent (June 1, 2022 at 11:29 a.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> In the 2022 midterm elections, at least four other Republican candidates ([[Ron Johnson]], Josh Mandel, David McCormick, and Adam Laxalt) have made similar claims that voter fraud only happens in urban (i.e., primarily [[Democratic Party|Democratic]]) areas.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/08/republicans-2020-election-lie-johnson-mandel/ GOP candidates add a repulsive new twist to Trump’s ‘big lie’] by Greg Sargent (February 8, 2022 at 10:41 a.m. EST) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> Despite these Republican claims, Trump's own Attorney General at the time, [[Bill Barr]], knew that the claims were [[bullshit]], but only publicly admitted as much after leaving office.<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/06/william-barrs-trump-administration-attorney-general/619298/ Inside William Barr’s Breakup With Trump: In the final months of the administration, the doggedly loyal attorney general finally had enough.] by Jonathan D. Karl (June 27, 2021) ''The Atlantic''.</ref>

===Early Republican hypocrisy===
{{main|1=Republican Party|3=Hypocrisy}}
Before [[Steve Bannon]] was a Trump White House adviser in 2017, he made forays into the world of voter fraud, falsely claiming three times on voter forms from 2014-2016 that he was a resident of [[Florida]]. Prosecutors concluded, "This investigation revealed evidence that tends to indicate that the Subject did not intend to or actually reside in Miami-Dade County." Prosecutors ultimately declined to prosecute due to antiquated and poorly-drafted Florida laws.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/trump-strategist-stephen-bannon-wont-face-voter-fraud-prosecution-in-florida/2017/03/30/1324e066-156f-11e7-9e4f-09aa75d3ec57_story.html Trump strategist Stephen Bannon won’t face voter fraud prosecution in Florida] by Shawn Boburg & Robert O'Harrow Jr. (March 30, 2017) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> In one court hearing on alleged 2020 voter fraud, Judge Linda Parker referred to the 'evidence' presented by Trump's lawyer [[Sidney Powell]] as "levels of [[hearsay]]" in one instance and as so speculative as to be fantastical in another.<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/07/12/kraken-sanctions-hearing-lin-wood-blames-sidney-powell-in-attempt-to-evade-punishment-as-judge-expresses-skepticism ‘Kraken’ Sanctions Hearing: Lin Wood Blames Sidney Powell In Attempt To Evade Punishment As Judge Expresses Skepticism] by Alison Durkee (Jul 12, 2021,11:37am EDT) ''Forbes''.</ref>

[[Jack Posobiec]] has promoted the Republican conspiracy theory that [[Democrats]] have been winning elections because of voter fraud. In 2025, an analysis by ''Slate'' accused him of committing voter fraud by living in (non-competitive) [[Maryland]] but voting in neighboring swing-state [[Pennsylvania]] rom  2004 to 2024.<ref>[https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/10/jack-posobiec-voter-fraud-pizzagate-maga.html MAGA’s Top “Voter Fraud” Watchdog Votes in a Swing State. He Doesn’t Live There. A long paper trail shows that Jack Posobiec votes in one state and lives in another.] by Jacqueline Sweet and Marisa Kabas (Oct 03, 2025•6:35 AM) ''Slate''.</ref>

{{anchor|2020}}

===2020: The year that allegations of voter fraud led to an attempted coup===
{{main|2021 U.S. coup attempt}}

{{cquote|I don't want my vote or anyone else's to be disenfranchised. […] Do you realize how inaccurate the voter rolls are, with people just moving around. […] Anytime you move, you'll change your driver's license, but you don't call up and say, hey, by the way I'm re-registering.|||Mark Meadows (White House Press Secretary under Donald Trump from 2020-21), August 16, 2020<ref name=kessler>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/08/mark-meadows-his-wife-debra-their-trailer-home-voter-registration/ Mark Meadows, his wife, Debra, and their trailer-home voter registration] by Glenn Kessler (March 8, 2022) ''The Washington Post''.</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSlalxdeCwc Mark Meadows pressed on Trump's false claims of mail-in voter fraud] by ''CNN'' (Aug 16, 2020) ''YouTube''.</ref>}}

{{cquote|We need to make sure that everybody's vote is cast. But we also need to make sure that no one else disenfranchises those by creating a fraud on the voting system.|||Mark Meadows (August 23, 2020)<ref name=kessler/><ref>[https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-23-20-mark-meadows-kate-bedingfield/story?id=72551139 'This Week' Transcript 8-23-20: Mark Meadows, Kate Bedingfield] (August 23, 2020, 6:45 AM) ''ABC News''.</ref>}}

Following his resounding defeat in the [[2020 U.S. presidential election]], Donald Trump began actively circulating allegations that he had actually won the election, and only lost it because of voter fraud. But this was not actually new; Trump has claimed voter fraud even before he became a politician<ref>[https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-longstanding-history-calling-elections-rigged-doesnt-results/story?id=74126926/ Trump has longstanding history of calling elections 'rigged' if he doesn’t like the results] by Terrance Smith (November 11, 2020, 2:24 AM) ''ABC News''.</ref> — meaning he won the [[2016 U.S. presidential election]] despite (or [[Trump-Russia connection|because of]]) voter fraud in his own mind. 

Many false claims of voter fraud in 2020 were initially propagated by Russell J. Ramsland Jr. with his company Allied Security Operations Group. Ramsland tried unsuccessfully to push similar false claims in 2018, but no candidate took his bait at that time.<ref name=brown>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2021/trump-election-fraud-texas-businessman-ramsland-asog/ The making of a myth: Russell J. Ramsland Jr. sold everything from Tex-Mex food to light-therapy technology. Then he sold the story that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.] by Emma Brown et al. (May 9, 2021) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> In 2020, the false claims were incorporated into failed lawsuits by Trump lawyer Sidney Powell and Trump surrogates [[Louie Gohmert]] and [[Rudy Giuliani]].<ref name=brown/> The voting machine companies that were defamed by Powell and Trump's other surrogates, Giuliani, [[Lou Dobbs]], [[Fox News]], and [[Newsmax]], have subsequently been sued for defamation to the tune of billions of dollars.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2021/03/26/981515184/dominion-voting-systems-files-1-6-billion-defamation-lawsuit-against-fox-news Dominion Voting Systems Files $1.6 Billion Defamation Lawsuit Against Fox News] by Merrit Kennedy & Bill Chappell (Updated March 26, 202111:14 AM ET) ''NPR''.</ref>

Trump claimed in 2017 that there had been between 3 and 5 million votes cast in the 2016 presidential election by ineligible undocumented immigrants ("illegals" in [[MAGA]] parlance).<ref>[https://apnews.com/united-states-government-a79bb23654e7486a81f555b3bdc9bbc7 Trump wrongly blames fraud for loss of popular vote] by Ken Thomas & Erica Werner (7:16 PM PDT, January 23, 2017)</ref> Unsurprisingly, the low end of this range was just over the number of popular votes that Trump lost by (2.9 million). Similarly, Trump's henchman, Giuliani, claimed in 2020 that 40,000-250,000 ineligible ballots were cast in the 2016 election, as many as 1 in 14 votes cast.<ref>[https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Giuliani-law.pdf In The Matter Of Rudolph W. Giuliani, An Attorney] Motion No. 2021-00491 (May 3, 2021) ''Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division, First Judicial Department''.</ref><ref name=blake2>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/09/republican-bogus-claims-vote-fraud/ Mike Johnson’s telling comment on GOP’s (lack of) voter-fraud evidence] by Aaron Blake (May 9, 2024 at 12:51 p.m. EDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> Despite these very large claims of invalid ballots, House Speaker [[Mike Johnson]] admitted that he had no estimate while also claiming that there were unspecified large numbers.<ref name=blake2/> I.e., Johnson failed to even [[PIDOOMA]]:<ref name=blake2/>
{{cquote|[[Argument from omniscience|We all know]] [[Intuition|intuitively]] that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections, but it’s not been something that is easily provable. We don’t have that number.}}

In the [[real world]], there were indeed cases of voter fraud during the 2020 election: less than two dozen individuals across the whole country (less than 1 per 10 million votes cast).<ref name=bump>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/04/despite-gop-rhetoric-there-have-been-fewer-than-two-dozen-charged-cases-voter-fraud-since-election/ Despite GOP rhetoric, there have been fewer than two dozen charged cases of voter fraud since the election: One person has faced charges for every 10 million votes cast] by Philip Bump (May 4, 2021 at 7:29 a.m. PDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name !! State !! Alleged circumstance !! Vote cast
|-
| Ralph Thurman<ref name=bump/> || Pennsylvania || Tried to feebly impersonate his son and cast a second vote || Unknown
|-
| Darrick Kent<ref name=sarkauskas>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210310093626/https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20210309/5-charged-with-election-fraud-in-dupage-county 5 charged with election fraud in DuPage County] by Susan Sarkauskas (3/9/2021 6:28 PM) ''Daily Herald'' (archived from March 10, 2021).</ref> || Illinois || Falsely claimed Illinois residency || Unknown
|-
| Amy Kent<ref name=sarkauskas/> || Illinois || Falsely claimed Illinois residency || Unknown
|-
| Adam P. Butler<ref name=sarkauskas/> || Illinois || Falsely claimed he was someone else || Unknown
|-
| Thomas E. Wojciechowski<ref name=sarkauskas/> || Illinois || Falsely claimed he was someone else || Unknown
|-
| Colleen A. Kirchoff<ref name=sarkauskas/> || Illinois || Falsely claimed she was someone else || Unknown
|-
| Danielle Elaine Dooner<ref name=moran>[https://www.inquirer.com/news/bucks-county-vote-fraud-dead-20210430.html 2 Bucks County women face voter-fraud charges in separate incidents] by Robert Moran (Updated Apr 30, 2021) ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''.</ref> || Pennsylvania || Tried to vote for her deceased mother || Republican
|-
| Melissa Ann Fisher<ref name=moran/> || Pennsylvania || Tried to vote for her deceased mother || Democrat
|-
| Manikomal M. Kehler<ref name=ap>[https://apnews.com/article/maine-election-2020-6586e91bcae342d46e6223e1425d5f09 2nd UMaine student charged with voter fraud (April 29, 2021) ''AP''.</ref> || Maine || Voted once by mail and once on election day || Unknown
|-
| Alyssa Dau<ref name=ap/> || Maine || Voted an absentee ballot in the name of a former college roommate || Unknown
|-
| Christine Daikawa<ref>[https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/14/cedarburg-wisconsin-woman-christine-daikawa-charged-voter-fraud-appears-court/6538445002/ A Cedarburg woman charged with voter fraud appears in court] by Bruce Vielmetti (Published 10:15 a.m. CT Dec. 14, 2020; Updated 4:57 p.m. CT Dec. 14, 2020) ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel''.</ref> || Wisconsin || Cast a ballot for her deceased partner || Unknown
|-
| Brian Shilling<ref>[https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/hunterdon-county/2020/11/07/hunterdon-county-man-charged-voter-fraud/6205206002/ Hunterdon man charged with voter fraud] by Nick Muscavage (Published 2:49 p.m. ET Nov. 7, 2020; Updated 1:14 p.m. ET Nov. 9, 2020) ''My Central Jersey''.</ref> || New Jersey || Forged a signature || Unknown
|-
| Frederick Gattuso, a former Republican mayoral candidate<ref>[https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/crime/2021/01/28/carteret-nj-gop-mayor-candidate-frederick-gattuso-voter-fraud/4300714001/ Former Republican mayoral candidate in NJ charged with voter fraud] by Suzanne Russell (Published 6:05 p.m. ET Jan. 28, 2021; Updated 5:09 p.m. ET Jan. 29, 2021) ''My Central Jersey''.</ref> || New Jersey || Voted twice with different names || Presumably Republican
|-
| Steven Solop<ref>[https://www.ahherald.com/newsbrief/local-news/28312-highlands-man-charged-with-voter-fraud,-used-business-address Highlands Businessman Charged with Voter Fraud] (09 April 2021) ''Atlantic Highlands Herald ''.</ref> || New Jersey || Voted in two different districts using his business address for one || Unknown
|-
| Bruce Bartman<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/04/pennsylvania-bruce-bartman-voter-fraud/ Pennsylvania man admits he voted for Trump with his dead mom's name: 'I listened to too much propaganda'] by Jaclyn Peiser (May 4, 2021 at 3:06 a.m. PDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> || Pennsylvania || Voted his mother's ballot though she had been dead since 2008 || Trump
|-
| Paul Parana || New Jersey || Voted his daughter's ballot || Unknown
|-
| Mark Meadows (yes, the one with the above quotes)<ref name=kessler/> || North Carolina || Registered to vote at a residence where he allegedly never lived (perjury), allegedly voted twice || Republican
|-
| Debra Meadows (wife of Mark)<ref name=kessler/><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/23/debra-meadows-appears-have-filed-three-false-voter-forms/ Debra Meadows appears to have filed at least two false voter forms] by Glenn Kessler (March 23, 2022) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> || North Carolina || Filed at least two false voter forms (perjury) || Republican
|-
| Barry Morphew<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/15/murder-voter-fraud-trump-morphew/ Man charged with wife’s murder illegally cast her ballot for Trump, officials say: ‘I just thought, give him another vote’] by Hannah Knowles & Paulina Villegas (May 15, 2021 at 6:38 p.m. PDT) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> || Colorado || Voted his deceased wife's ballot, then was charged with her murder || Trump
|-
| Jay Ketcik<ref name=scott>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/12/14/florida-trump-supporters-arrested-charges-casting-more-than-one-vote-2020-election/ Florida Trump supporters arrested on charges of casting more than one vote in 2020 election] by Eugene Scott (December 14, 2021) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> || Florida || voted in Florida and [[Michigan]] || Republican
|-
| John Rider<ref name=scott/> || Florida || voted in Florida and elsewhere || Republican
|-
| Charles Barnes<ref>[https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/01/05/4th-resident-of-the-villages-arrested-for-allegedly-casting-multiple-ballots/ 4<sup>th</sup> resident of The Villages arrested for allegedly casting multiple ballots: Charles Franklin Barnes was not affiliated with a political party when allegedly voted twice] by Mike DeForest (January 4, 2022, 11:30 PM) ''Click Orlando.com''.</ref> || Florida || voted in Florida and Connecticut || unknown
|-
| Steve Watkins, former GOP Congressman<ref>[https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2021/03/02/former-congressman-steve-watkins-agrees-deal-avoiding-prosecution/6894378002/ Former Congressman Steve Watkins agrees to diversion deal, could avoid prosecution] by Andrew Bahl (Updated 2:38 p.m. CT March 3, 2021) ''The Topeka Capital-Journal''.</ref> || Kansas || Falsely claimed his residence was a UPS Store || Republican
|-
| Wendy W. Rosen<ref name=blake/> || Maryland || voted in Maryland and Florida in 2006 and 2010 || Democrat
|-
| Leslie E. McIntosh<ref name=reeves>[https://billingsgazette.com/news/national/people-voting-twice-in-kansas-missouri/article_b6c981e6-d886-5427-9896-d59fea05aa31.html People voting twice in Kansas, Missouri] by Greg Reeves (Sep 5, 2004) ''Billings Gazette''.</ref> || Missouri/Kansas || voted in both states || unknown
|-
| Lorraine E. Goodrich<ref name=reeves/> || Missouri/Kansas || voted in both states || unknown
|-
| James D. Scherzer<ref name=reeves/> || Missouri/Kansas || voted in both states || unknown
|-
| Joan Halstead<ref>[https://www.local10.com/news/politics/2022/08/20/3rd-resident-of-the-villages-admits-to-voting-twice-in-the-2020-election/ 3rd resident of The Villages admits to voting twice in the 2020 election] by Mike DeForest (August 20, 2022) ''Local 10''.</ref> || Florida || voted twice || Republican
|-
| Kim Phuong Taylor, wife of an Iowa Republican county supervisor<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/22/iowa-voter-fraud-wife-husband-republican GOP official’s wife convicted in months-long 2020 voter-fraud scheme] by Timothy Bella (November 22, 2023) ''The Washington Post''.</ref> || Iowa || convicted of "26 charges of false information in registering and voting, 23 charges of fraudulent voting and three charges of fraudulent registration" || Trump, Republicans
|}

In several cases, people have voted in two different state primaries in the same year, generally by changing residences. It's not always clear whether this is illegal, since state primaries usually are on different dates.<ref name=blake>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/05/mowers-trump-voter-fraud/ Another ex-Trump official who might have voted illegally] by Aaron Blake (April 5, 2015) ''The Washington Post''.</ref>

==The real voter fraud problem==
The moral panic around voter fraud is particularly silly if you consider how badly the proposed kind of voter fraud scales up and how easy it would be to get caught. It would take large numbers of people, access to extensive information about ballots that can be co-opted, a means of generating hundreds of false registrations resistant to examination after the fact, or at the very least, a way of stuffing large numbers of ballots into the count in a way that makes it difficult to tell they all came from the same place. As it happens, there is a form of voter fraud that scales incredibly well and has been used with much success in US elections: voter suppression. Closing polling stations in areas that skew towards your opponents, purging voter registrations in a demonstrably over-eager way, and imposing onerous requirement to vote (in person or via post) are just three ways, and they have the benefit of being legal. The Republican Party has had this kind of voter fraud as part of its arsenal for several electoral cycles.<ref group=note>The Democrats did it too, when ''they'' were the party that catered to racist fuckwits (see the [[Jim Crow laws]] article).</ref>

In this context, the real reason for crying wolf about voter fraud becomes apparent: the moral panic helps create support for voter suppression. The spectre of voter fraud<sup>Original flavour</sup> is used as justification for voter fraud<sup>New Coke</sup>.

==An unanswered question==
Republicans who allege that Democrats benefit from voter fraud have never answered a simple question: if voter fraud is so easy, why wouldn't Republicans do it just as often as Democrats? Put another way, if Democrats could really get away with busing voters from [[Massachusetts]] into [[New Hampshire]], why wouldn't Republicans bus voters from [[Alabama]] into Florida and [[Georgia]], from [[Utah]] into [[Nevada]] and Arizona, or from Indiana into Michigan? If millions of [[Illegal immigration|undocumented immigrants]] are registering and voting in the Southwest, why don't millions of conservatives register under false names and vote twice?

==See also==
*[[Felony disenfranchisement]]
*[[Georgia (country)#Electoral fraud]]
*[[Racism]]
*[[Ratfucking]]

==External links==
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/08/06/a-comprehensive-investigation-of-voter-impersonation-finds-31-credible-incidents-out-of-one-billion-ballots-cast/ A comprehensive investigation of voter impersonation finds 31 credible incidents out of one billion ballots cast] by Justin Levitt (August 6, 2014 at 3:00 a.m. PDT) ''The Washington Post''.

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:Discrimination]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Moral panics]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Trumpism]]

Categories: Conspiracy theories, Discrimination, Elections, Moral panics, Racism, Trumpism