Election fraud is a topic that sparks heated debates and has raised concerns throughout U.S. history, as it should. While election fraud is relatively rare compared to the number of ballots cast, there have been notable cases that grabbed headlines and led to serious reforms. Today, we bring you a short history lesson on election fraud causes that have shaken the country. Let’s see how common election fraud cases really are:
The 1948 Texas Senate Primary (The Box 13 Scandal)
Photo by Lesli Whitecotton on UnsplashImagine a tight race between two political heavyweights—Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson and former Governor Coke R. Stevenson—with Johnson winning by a razor-thin margin of 87 votes. This was no ordinary close call. Known as the Box 13 scandal, the victory was shadowed by allegations of fraud. The story goes that in Jim Wells County, Texas, county officials tampered with vote tallies, including casting ballots for people who didn’t even show up. While Johnson's victory catapulted him to the U.S. Senate and eventually the presidency, this scandal remains one of the most infamous examples of suspected election fraud in American history.
The 1960 Presidential Election
Photo by History in HD on UnsplashAh, the showdown between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon—one of the closest and most controversial elections in U.S. history. Kennedy's victory over Nixon in Illinois, particularly Chicago, remains a point of contention. Historians, including Robert Dallek, have argued that the Chicago political machine may have "stolen" Illinois for Kennedy, tipping the balance in the overall election. While several judges confirmed the election’s fairness, suspicions about vote tampering in Illinois, and even Texas, continue to linger.
2012 Florida House of Representatives Election
Florida House Chamber on Wikimedia Commons
In this case, Jeffrey Garcia, chief of staff to an incumbent, orchestrated an illegal scheme to request nearly 2,000 absentee ballots. While it may sound like a plot twist from a political drama, it was a real example of someone trying to game the system for an electoral advantage. The fallout? It led to serious consequences for those involved.
2018 North Carolina 9th Congressional District
Photo by Josh Carter on UnsplashPerhaps one of the most infamous recent cases, this election saw allegations of ballot harvesting—where absentee ballots were illegally collected and manipulated. The results were so questionable that authorities refused to certify the initial outcome, leading to a re-run of the election. This incident showed how even the perception of election fraud could lead to a complete do-over of the electoral process.
2023-24 Bridgeport, Connecticut Mayoral Election
This case is the most recent one and it involved accusations of ballot stuffing during the Democratic primary. The evidence was so compelling that a judge stepped in and ordered a re-run of the primary. It’s a reminder that even local elections aren’t immune to controversy!
Frequency and Scale of Election Fraud
Photo by Jon Tyson on UnsplashSo, how common is election fraud really? Well, over more than a decade, The Heritage Foundation documented 1,561 proven cases of election fraud, resulting in 1,325 criminal prosecutions. That sounds like a lot, right? But in context, it’s minuscule compared to the number of votes cast. In Texas, for instance, between 2005 and 2022, there were 103 confirmed cases of election fraud out of 107 million ballots cast. That’s about 0.000096%—barely a blip on the radar.
Though rare, when it happens, it can change the course of history. With close elections often coming down to a few thousand votes, even small numbers of fraudulent ballots can feel significant. In Arizona's 2020 election, where Biden won by just 10,457 votes, only four cases of fraudulent voting were documented. Four! In a state with millions of voters. Georgia reported no cases of fraud in the 2020 or 2022 general elections, even with nearly nine million votes cast, and Florida saw nine cases of election fraud between 2020 and 2022, many of which involved voters confused about their eligibility.
At the end of the day, while the confirmed instances of election fraud are small in number, they can still have a big impact, especially in close races. The stories of election fraud—from the Box 13 scandal to modern-day ballot tampering—remind us that even the perception of fraud can shake trust in the system. That’s why ongoing efforts to secure elections and maintain transparency are so important. And while most of us can feel confident that our votes are safe and counted correctly, the few cases that slip through the cracks keep the debate over election integrity alive.
