Survey of 49 states finds virtually no voter fraud in 2016 election


Last month, President-elect Donald Trump argued on Twitter that he would have won the popular vote, not just the Electoral College, if "millions of people who voted illegally" had not cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton. That claim was widely ridiculed at the time, but The New York Times actually asked the people who supervised the 2016 general election in all 50 states how many credible reports of fraud they had found. (Kansas did not respond.) The "overwhelming consensus?" The Times says: "Next to none."
Americans cast 137.7 million ballots in the 2016 election. Twenty-six states and Washington, D.C., reported zero credible allegations of fraudulent voting, eight states reported one case each, and a handful of other states said they are still collectively reviewing a couple dozen allegations of suspicious voting. "The findings unambiguously debunk repeated statements" from Trump about millions of fraudulent voters, the Times says, and "refute warnings by Republican governors in Maine and North Carolina that election results could not be trusted."
At the same time, the Times survey did uncover some cases of voter fraud, including a South Carolina woman who voted absentee then again on Election Day just to make sure her vote counted, a person who voted in both Oregon and Idaho, and another who voted twice in Delaware. Then there's at least one case of an unambiguously illegal voter casting his ballot:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Tennessee is still investigating one allegation of noncitizen voting. And in Oregon, an American citizen registered her noncitizen husband to vote, which he did — until he discovered it was illegal. The man reported his mistake to county election officials, the secretary of state's office said. He asked that his ballot not be counted. [The New York Times]
You can read more about what the survey uncovered (and did not uncover) at The New York Times.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Here We Are: Stephen Sondheim's 'utterly absorbing' final musical
The Week Recommends The musical theatre legend's last work is 'witty, wry and suddenly wise'
-
The Trial: 'sharp' legal drama with a 'clever' script
The Week Recommends Channel 5's one-off show imagines a near future where parents face trial for their children's crimes
-
Riefenstahl: a 'gripping and incrementally nauseating' documentary
The Week Recommends Andres Veiel's nuanced film examines whether the controversial film director was complicit in Nazi war crimes
-
Trump vows to lift Syria sanctions
speed read The move would help the new government stabilize the country following years of civil war
-
Senate rejects Trump's Library of Congress takeover
speed read Congress resisted the president's attempts to control 'the legislative branch's premier research body'
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs