Voter fraud, voting rights and election security have been hot-button issues in U.S. politics since the nation's founding. Today, opinions about each are often divided on party lines; Republicans and conservatives often consider voter fraud a widespread issue, while Democrats and liberals typically do not.
Some see voter fraud as a widespread issue. Voter fraud has been alleged frequently in recent elections, in forms such as allegations of bussing out-of-state voters into different states, hacking electronic voting machines, impersonating voters and other methods. In May 2017, President Trump created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity to address this issue, though it has since been disbanded. Many states have passed voter ID laws to attempt to address fraud, requiring citizens to provide a valid form of ID at the ballot box.
Skeptics argue that election fraud is rare in the US, and too infrequent to have a legitimate impact on voting integrity. When it does occur, they say, voter fraud typically involves absentee ballots or election officials, both of which cannot be prevented by voter ID laws. They argue that voter ID laws disenfranchise American citizens who lack government-issued IDs or do not have the resources to acquire one, and argue the laws disproportionately affect racial minorities and the disabled. Some characterize ID laws as instances of implicit racism.
Disenfranchisement of people with felony criminal convictions is another oft-debated aspect of voting rights. Maine and Vermont are the only states that allow prison inmates, probationers and parolees to vote. Virginia is the only state that permanently removes voting rights from people with felony convictions.
Voting rights for young people have also become a topic of debate in recent years. The 26th Amendment, passed in 1971, prevents laws that set a minimum voting age higher than 18.
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Protects the Integrity of American Elections
RESTORING TRUST IN AMERICAN ELECTIONS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to protect the integrity of American elections.
This Order strengthens voter citizenship verification and bans foreign nationals from interfering in U.S. elections.
The Election Assistance Commission will require documentary, government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship on its voter registration forms.
PRESERVING AND PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF AMERICAN ELECTIONS
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Trump's claim that millions of immigrants are signing up to vote illegally is Pants on Fire!
Former President Donald Trump’s final push before the Iowa caucuses came with warnings about an outrageous Democratic scheme to register immigrants in the country illegally to vote.
"That’s why they are allowing these people to come in — people that don’t speak our language — they are signing them up to vote," Trump said Jan. 5 in Sioux Center, Iowa. "And I believe that’s why you are having millions of people pour into our country and it could very well affect the next election. That’s why they are..
Trump renews voter fraud claims as voting by mail begins. Here's why they are still false.
Former President Donald Trump’s election-year message to his supporters is clear and often repeated: If Democrats win the November election, blame voter fraud.
Fraud by mail-in voting. Fraud by noncitizen voting. Fraud by a vast interstate conspiracy. Fraud orchestrated by the Democratic Party.
Trump sent a fundraising appeal in August that said his victory needed to be "TOO BIG TO RIG" by the Democrats...
Trump calls 6 January 'day of love' when asked about Capitol riot
Donald Trump has described 6 January 2021 as "day of love" when asked about US Capitol riot during a campaign event just weeks before the presidential election.
The former president said the thousands who travelled to Washington DC that day did so because “they thought the election was a rigged election”.
Trump hosted a rally that day outside the White House before his supporters marched to the US Capitol, culminating in a mob storming the building as lawmakers certified Joe Biden's election win.
Did 19 state attorneys general sue the Trump administration to create voting rights for noncitizens?
While 19 state attorneys general, including Arizona’s Kris Mayes, filed a lawsuit challenging a recent executive order involving election reforms, the lawsuit makes no attempt to establish noncitizen voting rights. AllSides highlights content from Gigafact, a network of newsrooms that respond to online claims. View the full fact brief on Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.
Musk’s Unsupported Claim to Have Unveiled Massive Illegal Voting by Noncitizens
Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency he leads claim to have unearthed evidence to prove a longstanding conspiracy theory about Democrats orchestrating illegal voting by noncitizens on a scale large enough to swing national elections in their favor. But voting experts say the claims are highly dubious, and DOGE hasn’t released any evidence.
House passes SAVE Act, requiring proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration
The House of Representatives passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act on Thursday, which would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote for federal elections.
The final vote was 220-208, with one Democrat absent due to medical issues. Four Democrats voted with all the Republicans in support of the bill. Four Republicans didn't vote.
Trump is dismantling election security networks. State officials are alarmed
Misha Pride, then the mayor of South Portland, Maine, was greeting voters early on Election Day when police cars suddenly swarmed outside the city’s community center with lights flashing.
“Possible shooting,” the city manager texted Pride. Officers locked down the center.
GOP-led states remove hundreds of thousands from voter rolls, finding non-citizens had registered
Two Republican-led states have removed hundreds of thousands of registrations from their voter rolls this month, while another identified hundreds of non-citizen voters during their voter list maintenance.