The Myth of Voter Fraud

Allegations that widespread voter fraud is threatening to the integrity of American elections and American democracy itself have intensified since the disputed 2000 presidential election. The claim that elections are being stolen by illegal immigrants and unscrupulous voter registration activists and vote buyers has been used to persuade the public that voter malfeasance is of greater concern than structural inequities in the ways votes are gathered and tallied, justifying ever tighter restrictions on access to the polls. Yet, that claim is a myth. In The Myth of Voter Fraud, Lorraine C. Minnite presents the results of her meticulous search for evidence of voter fraud. She concludes that while voting irregularities produced by the fragmented and complex nature of the electoral process in the United States are common, incidents of deliberate voter fraud are actually quite rare. Based on painstaking research aggregating and sifting through data from a variety of sources, including public records requests to all fifty state governments and the U.S. Justice Department, Minnite contends that voter fraud is in reality a politically constructed myth intended to further complicate the voting process and reduce voter turnout. She refutes several high-profile charges of alleged voter fraud, such as the assertion that eight of the 9/11 hijackers were registered to vote, and makes the question of voter fraud more precise by distinguishing fraud from the manifold ways in which electoral democracy can be distorted. Effectively disentangling misunderstandings and deliberate distortions from reality, The Myth of Voter Fraud provides rigorous empirical evidence for those fighting to make the electoral process more efficient, more equitable, and more democratic.

About the Author :
Lorraine C. Minnite is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Barnard College and a Senior Fellow at Demos. She is coauthor of Keeping Down the Black Vote: Race and the Demobilization of American Voters.

Review :
"Minnite argues persuasively that instances of people fraudulently voting in the US are rare. She makes a compelling case that the vast majority of non-legitimate registrations are innocent errors, that only a small number of individuals illegitimately registered actually cast ballots, and that only an even smaller number of these illegitimate ballots are counted. Using game theory, she suggests that her findings should not be surprising as the high potential costs of illegal voting would not justify the problematic gains. She then demonstrates that, although voter fraud is insignificant, the myth of voter fraud is important as a means to justify cumbersome administrative practices designed to depress turnout... She writes engagingly and with a sense of humor. An important book."-Choice "This insightful and contemporary book focuses on a seemingly straightforward question: Is election fraud a problem in the United States? The answer, revealed in the title, is that it is not, but this conclusion is only drawn after a well-researched evaluation of the recent accusations of voter fraud. Minnite meticulously presents high-profile and widely cited cases of voter fraud, some of which continue to be widely referenced by politicians and in the news media, and shows that few cases of voter fraud have been supported with evidence. Overall, Minnite makes the case that intentional voter fraud rarely occurs in the U.S. context. Minnite provides a thorough and serious treatment of election fraud in the United States. The book is a much-needed contribution to the literature on election fraud, and will be an important resource for anyone interested in voter fraud. It also raises several debates that may be worth exploring in future research, and that relate to the degree to which the book's central arguments can be applied outside of the current U.S. context. This book is an excellent and timely contribution to the study of election fraud, and should be read by political scientists, those interested in election administration, and policymakers at the state and federal levels. The biggest strength of Minnite's book is that it persuasively argues that simplifying the electoral process in the United States should be a high priority, and is one that will significantly improve the integrity of the electoral process. I agree, and I hope that future debates consider not only what is politically feasible or what will provide short-term political gain, but what is best for the quality of U.S. elections and voter confidence in the electoral process."-Election Law Journal "This book is a must-read for anyone concerned with voter fraud in twenty-first-century America. Lorraine C. Minnite defines voter fraud so as to allow the careful, systematic investigation of the subject she reports in this volume. I highly recommend it."-Chandler Davidson, editor, Minority Vote Dilution "This is the first systematic-and convincing-answer to the decade-long campaign by Republican ideologues, the Wall St. Journal, and, for a time, the U.S. Department of Justice, to create what Lorraine C. Minnite rightly calls 'the myth of voter fraud.' This myth feeds the ongoing partisan efforts in states throughout the country to adopt 'voter identification' laws, which have the effect of disproportionately disfranchising minorities and the aged. Minnite's gracefully written book, brimming with fascinating stories and trenchant analysis, provides a clear-eyed, factual background for this major public policy debate. If you want to go beyond slogans and fantasies on vote fraud, this is the place to start."-J. Morgan Kousser, author of Colorblind Injustice: Minority Voting Rights and the Undoing of the Second Reconstruction