Allegations of Voter Fraud
The "voter fraud" cry has been increasingly used to justify policies that suppress legitimate voters. But the cry is baseless; allegations of voter fraud—especially polling place impersonation fraud—almost always prove to be inflated or inaccurate. The Brennan Center carefully examines allegations of fraud to get at the truth behind the claims. The truth of the matter is that voter fraud—votes knowingly cast by ineligible individuals—is exceedingly rare; one is more likely to be struck by lightning than to commit voter fraud. Our work debunking the voter fraud myth is available at Truth About Fraud.
In 2007, the Brennan Center released The Truth About Voter Fraud,
the most extensive analysis of voter fraud claims to date. The report
finds that most allegations of fraud turn out to be baseless—and that
of the few allegations remaining, most reveal election irregularities
and other forms of election misconduct, rather than fraud by individual
voters. The type of individual voter fraud supposedly targeted by
recent legislative efforts—especially efforts to require certain
forms of voter ID—simply does not exist. A presentation describing vote suppression measures promoted by the U.S. Department of Justice can be found here.
Crawford v. Marion County Election Board
Determining which American citizens are able to exercise their right to vote and which Americans are not, the Indiana voter ID case is the most important voting rights case since Bush v. Gore.
FOIA Request to EAC Re: Commissioned Reports
In 2006 and 2007, the Brennan Center filed a FOIA request with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to obtain documents pertaining to commissioned reports on voter fraud and voter intimidation and on voter ID.
NM: Scant Evidence of Fraud, But Plenty of Voter Registration Glitches
New Mexico Secretary of State Diana Duran has released another report that, rhetoric aside, doesn't put forward any clear evidence of fraud. However, the report does show areas where Sec. Duran needs to improve the state's management of voter registration.
Know The Truth About Voting in Maine
The Brennan Center urges voters in Maine to inform themselves about their voting rights.
Illustrations by Risko
Study: New Voting Restrictions May Affect More than Five Million
New voting laws could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012, according to the first comprehensive study of the laws’ impact.
Information Ahead of Senate Hearing on State Voting Legislation Threatening Voting Rights in 2011
Ahead of Sen. Durbin’s hearing today on new state voting laws and possible threats to voting rights and voter turnout nationwide, the Brennan Center provides background information to help put the hearing in context, including a summary of the legislation passed so far, and useful links to deeper analysis.
Letter to Maine Sec. of State: Please Confirm Commitment to Fair Voting Rights for Students
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law wrote Maine Secretary of State Charles Summers, Jr., today, asking Sec. Summers to publicly reaffirm that out-of-state tuition status is not a bar to registering or voting in Maine.
Letter to Maine Sec. of State on Clarifying Student Residency Status
Recent media reports of an investigation into possible voter fraud or improper voting in Maine have focused on a list of registered voters who were also paying "out-of-state" tuition rates at Maine public universities. The Brennan Center wrote Sec. of State Charles Summers, Jr., asking him to publicly clarify that tuition rates and state residency for voting rights are governed by very different standards and reaffirm the voting rights of students who qualify as Maine residents and register to vote.
Testimony on Pennsylvania HB 934
Keesha Gaskins testifies before the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee regarding HB934 and the alleged problem of voter impersonation fraud at the polls and the impact of voter identification requirements on voter fraud addressing.
Adam Skaggs before the Illinois House of Representatives
Testimony on legislative trends in election administration delivered before the House Elections Committee.
Research and Publications on Voter ID
Social science research on the impact voter identification restrictions.
Presentations on Voting Rights
Each year, the Brennan Center hosts briefings and delivers presentations on annual trends in voting rights. On this page you can access and download each presentation we have delivered.
The Brennan Center for Justice is compiling media coverage of threatened "ballot security" operations in 2010.