How We Know Voter Fraud is Very Rare in U.S. Elections, Reply to the Associated Press and Report to the State of the State

Following Trump’s false claims, leaders in Republican-run states have been ramping up investigations into alleged voter fraud. The number of potential instances of fraud they are detecting is only a fraction of the number of votes cast in the election.

The law requires that states remove ineligible or dead voters from their rolls. And there are tools like the Electronic Registration Information Center, also known as ERIC, that help states share voter data.

She said that the numbers don’t differentiate between an allegation that may be wrong or a situation where someone has voted in bad faith.

Clapman said conservative-leaning groups often lump all cases where the voter thought they were eligible along with cases where someone intended to commit fraud.

People who lost their voting rights due to a felony conviction are among the most frequent cases, said Clapman. There are some examples, including Florida, where 20 formerly incarcerated people were arrested for alleged illegal voting, even though they were given voter registration cards, as well as a case in Texas that involved a woman who thought she was eligible to vote.

Even when cases make it to court, they are thrown out or have a difficult path through the legal system. This often happens, Clapman said, in cases that involve ineligible voters who voted “accidentally in good faith, believing that they were eligible.”

Overall, Clapman said, there is a big gap between “the rhetoric and the actual reality” of how many instances of voter fraud some state officials identify and refer for prosecution.

Also after the 2020 election, The Associated Press contacted local election officials in six swing states. 475 voter fraud cases represent a small percentage of the 25 million votes cast in those six states.

In a statement, LaRose’s office said they had referred a total of 630 cases to prosecutors “over the course of multiple elections” — while also noting “voter fraud continues to be exceedingly rare” in the state.

“And the answer has overwhelmingly been throughout the years that this is extremely rare,” Clapman said. The courts usually conclude that the evidence isn’t there when they look at specific evidence.

Source: How we know voter fraud is very rare in U.S. elections

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and the U.S. Senate Judgment Against Tortuations in Voter Registration Campaign

That’s according to a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. Much of this concern is driven by Republicans after years of former President Donald Trump and his GOP allies casting doubt on the legitimacy of U.S. elections.

Across the country, conservatives have challenged the legitimacy of large numbers of voter registrations ahead of the Nov. 5 election. The Republican National Committee is involved in efforts to challenge the voter rolls before the election.

“Virginians — and Americans — will see this for exactly what it is: a desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of the elections in the Commonwealth, the very crucible of American Democracy,” Youngkin said of the Justice Department’s lawsuit.

The Department of Motor Vehicles data is used by the Virginia election officials to determine if a voter is a US citizen. The lawsuit alleges the DMV data can be inaccurate or outdated, but officials have not been taking additional steps to verify a person’s purported noncitizen status before mailing them a notice of canceling their voter eligibility.

Youngkin made an order on August 7 to formalize a process and remove people from the statewide voter registration list who can’t prove they’re citizens.

“Congress adopted the National Voter Registration Act’s quiet period restriction to prevent error-prone, eleventh hour efforts that all too often disenfranchise qualified voters,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement. The right to vote is a cornerstone of our democracy and the Justice Department will ensure that the rights of qualified voters are protected.