Name: Research contradicts President Donald Trump’s claim of voter fraud problems in Ohio: Election Truth
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Research contradicts President Donald Trump’s claim of voter fraud problems in Ohio: Election Truth

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NEW!518sharesCLEVELAND, Ohio – President Donald Trump has claimed that voter fraud is widespread and just recently cited an example of what he described as a “rigged election” here in Ohio.But the president’s assertions about voter fraud and rigged elections are disputed by many of his fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, and by elections experts and researchers across the country.With all the misinformation and anxiety surrounding the 2020 election, The Plain Dealer and today examines the issue of voter fraud as part of a myth-busting series we call Election Truth.What about the supposedly “rigged election” in Ohio?Trump cited a case in Franklin County, home to Columbus, in which nearly incorrect ballots. “Out of control. A Rigged Election!!!” Trump tweeted.The Franklin County Board of Elections tweeted back: “Mr. President, it certainly was a serious mistake, but a serious mistake that we’re working hard to make right. Our board is bipartisan and our elections are fair. And every vote will be counted.”Franklin County’s elections director that the elections board will ensure every voter who received a wrong ballot will receive a second, accurate ballot and no votes will be counted twice.If voters submit the incorrect ballot and fail to submit the accurate ballot, only votes in races that appeared on both ballots, such as the presidential election, will be tallied, according to the Dispatch.Would mailing the wrong absentee ballots constitute election fraud in Ohio?Ohio law that would be considered voter fraud, such as tampering with ballots or ballot scanners, and falsifying signatures or voter registration information. But in most cases, such actions would have to be done “knowingly” or with an “intent to defraud” to be considered a crime.Does voter fraud happen in Ohio?Yes, but on a very small scale.Says who?That was the conclusion reached in 2017 by Republican Jon Husted, then serving as Ohio’s secretary of state and now the state’s lieutenant governor, in response to an election integrity commission assembled by Trump to investigate Trump’s theory that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election.Husted, in a letter to the commission, stated that his office found 153 “irregularities” in the 2016 general election out of 5.6 million votes cast — or .0027%. The Secretary of State’s Office referred 52 of those cases for further investigation and prosecution, including 22 individuals who voted in more than one state.In the 2014 general election, the office found 42 “irregularities” out of about 3.1 million votes cast. In the 2012 presidential election, the office identified 625 problems out of 5.6 million votes cast, of which 270 were referred for prosecution.Is Ohio more or less susceptible to fraud than other states?For an answer to that question, we reached out to David Cohen, interim director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron.Cohen said the question is moot, because the likelihood of voter fraud is “so small everywhere in the U.S., it’s not even worth comparing.”That said, he added: “Ohio’s voting system is extremely safe, and instances of fraud here are very, very low.”What is the rate of voter fraud elsewhere?The New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice — a nonpartisan policy institute that has conducted research and reviews of the prevalence of voter fraud — found in one analysis that voter fraud is limited to between of all votes cast, Cohen said.The that “fraud is very rare, voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent, and many instances of alleged fraud are, in fact, mistakes by voters or administrators.”The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, has tracked about 1,300 instances of voter fraud out of millions of votes cast nationwide since 1979, but the Brennan Center concluded the foundation’s database “grossly over exaggerated” findings of fraud.Said Cohen: “Even if you accept the Heritage Foundation’s data, it shows [the practice of voter fraud] is so small, it’s not even worth mentioning.”The foundation’s database includes 52 in Ohio, dating back to 2000. Of those, seven relate to fraud involving absentee ballots, eight relate to duplicative voting, and none relate to impersonating other voters.Read more stories in our Election Truth series:How do signature comparisons work in Ohio elections, and how often are signatures rejected?: Election TruthNote to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

NEW!518sharesCLEVELAND, Ohio – President Donald Trump has claimed that voter fraud is widespread and just recently cited an example of what he described as a “rigged election” here in Ohio.But the president’s assertions about voter fraud and rigged elections are disputed by many of his fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, and by elections experts and researchers across the country.With all the misinformation and anxiety surrounding the 2020 election, The Plain Dealer and today examines the issue of voter fraud as part of a myth-busting series we call Election Truth.What about the...

Research contradicts President Donald Trump’s claim of voter fraud problems in Ohio: Election Truth

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