9.3 Election Fraud
Even in stable and secure environments, elections can still be compromised by illegal or fraudulent tactics. Election fraud can happen in two primary categories: Voter Fraud and Election Fraud. First, voter fraud is a type of individual fraud in which individual voters or candidates might try to use illegal means to manipulate election results, such as casting multiple votes. The second type, election fraud, might be more accurately described as institutional fraud. This type of fraud involves illegal actions undertaken by the electoral administration. These measures might include interfering with the casting of votes, which would include stuffing ballot boxes with pre-filled ballots, or it could involve manipulating the counting of votes by destroying ballots or falsifying election results (ACE Electoral Knowledge Network, n.d.-d)
Multiple Votes
To prevent individuals from casting multiple votes, sometimes called plural voting, most election administrators enforce practices of identity verification and voter identification.
Verifying Identities
Most Electoral Management Bodies (EMB) require that voters prove their identity when voting or during registration.
Identifying Voters Who Cast Votes
Once a vote has been cast, the voter must be removed from the voters’ list or otherwise identified by marking a finger or thumb with ink.
(ACE Electoral Knowledge Network, n.d.-d).
In the United States, allegations of voter fraud have proliferated in recent years, yet the practice remains incredibly rare. In theory, it is possible for a registered voter to submit a ballot in the electoral district where they are registered and then travel to another voting location in a different electoral district to register and cast a vote. In countries with well-established electoral management practices, the voter’s name would be identified in post-election validation
Penalties for Plural Voting
Is Multiple Voting a Problem?
There is a veritable consensus among researchers that individual voter fraud is a nonexistent problem in America (Brennan Center for Justice, n.d). Additionally, with the electronic management and updating of voter rolls, administrators can identify and remedy instances of multiple voting within six seconds of the vote being cast (Sullivan & Ax, 2020). One study identified a mere 31 voters casting multiple votes in American elections between 2000 and 2014 (Sullivan & Ax, 2020). Similarly, in Canada, only four voters were found to have cast multiple votes in the 2015 election (Watters, 2019). The problem is much greater in electoral autocracies such as Russia, where ballot stuffing is a common occurrence (Radio Free Europe, 2024).
