--- title: The Facts About Mail-In Voting Fraud description: Trump claims mail-in voting is "corrupt." But research indicates fraud is very, very rare. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/03/20/mail-voting-absentee-voter-fraud-trump-claims-research/ author: Connor Greene article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-03-21T10:00:04.650Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-13T06:52:26.153Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Facts About Mail-In Voting Fraud og:description: Trump claims mail-in voting is "corrupt." But research indicates fraud is very, very rare. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/03/20/mail-voting-absentee-voter-fraud-trump-claims-research/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9466fa3810f2696/69bdcf470f1269a1ba5e44a1/GettyImages-2180066734.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: GettyImages-2180066734.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Facts About Mail-In Voting Fraud twitter:description: Trump claims mail-in voting is "corrupt." But research indicates fraud is very, very rare. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9466fa3810f2696/69bdcf470f1269a1ba5e44a1/GettyImages-2180066734.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Claims Mail-In Voting Is ‘Corrupt.’ But Research Indicates Fraud Is Very, Very Rare by [Connor Greene](https://time.com/author/connor-greene/) ## Connor Greene Editorial Fellow Mar 21, 2026 10:00 AM UTC  Election materials are displayed on a table at the Santa Clara County registrar of voters office in San Jose, California, on October 21, 2024. Election materials are displayed on a table at the Santa Clara County registrar of voters office in San Jose, California, on October 21, 2024.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Connor Greene](https://time.com/author/connor-greene/) ## Connor Greene Editorial Fellow Mar 21, 2026 10:00 AM UTC President Donald Trump has been going after [mail-in voting](https://time.com/7310391/trump-mail-in-ballots-midterms-votes/) for years, baselessly characterizing it as a source of widespread fraud in U.S. elections. Trump has repeatedly returned to those claims amid his push for Congress to pass restrictive new voting measures in the [SAVE America Act](https://time.com/article/2026/03/10/trump-save-america-act-republicans-congress-voter-ID-senate-john-thune/) in recent weeks, pressing lawmakers to add provisions that would bar universal vote-by-mail and no-excuse absentee voting into the bill. On Tuesday, as the Senate opened debate on the SAVE America Act, the President called mail-in voting “[rigged](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116244486426312346)” and “corrupt as hell,” and [falsely claimed](https://time.com/7310391/trump-mail-in-ballots-midterms-votes/) that “we're the only country in the world that does it that way.” Trump has also aggressively campaigned against the practice in past elections, [warning](https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1288818160389558273?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1288818160389558273%7Ctwgr%5E9923cd30431b96e730612abcee63e92b7245d1b2%7Ctwcon%5Es1%5F&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.factcheck.org%2F2020%2F07%2Fthe-presidents-trumped-up-claims-of-voter-fraud%2F) in 2020 that states expanding voters’ access to mail-in ballots amid the COVID-19 pandemic would make that year’s election “the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT” in the country’s history. He later blamed mail-in voting for his 2020 loss to Joe Biden. A number of Republicans have [continued](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/19/republicans-mail-in-voting-trump-398774) [to](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/17/republicans-midterms-mail-in-voting-00693867) [urge](https://abcnews.com/Politics/republicans-push-mail-voting-despite-trumps-opposition/story?id=108890566) Americans to vote by mail despite Trump’s attacks on the practice, while others have joined him in pressing for it to be restricted or largely abolished. In the recent push for the SAVE America Act, some conservative lawmakers have echoed Trump’s claims, and Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri has introduced an amendment to the bill that would prohibit mail-in voting except in limited cases involving illness, travel, disability, and military service. Other Republican Senators, however, have [raised concerns](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5786819-save-america-act-absentee-voting/) about imposing such restrictions. Voting by mail in the U.S. dates back to the [Civil War](https://time.com/5892357/voting-by-mail-history/), and has become more widespread in recent years even as Trump has publicly crusaded against it. According to the [National Vote at Home Institute](https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/ef45f5%5F81a3affd554e4b5b9b5852f8fb3c10fd.pdf), more than 250 million votes were cast through mail-in ballots across all 50 states between 2000 and 2020\. In 2024 alone, the U.S. Postal Service processed [more than 99.2 million ballots](https://about.usps.com/what/government-services/election-mail/pdf/usps-post-election-report-2024-12-02.pdf). **Read more:** [_Voting by Mail Dates Back to America’s Earliest Years. Here’s How It’s Changed Over the Years_](https://time.com/5892357/voting-by-mail-history/) For some voters, including those with disabilities, the elderly, students studying away from their home states, or military personnel stationed outside of the U.S., it can be the only convenient way—or, in some cases, the only way at all—to participate in elections. And despite Trump’s criticisms, states have numerous safeguards in place to protect against fraud in mail-in voting, and research indicates that instances of such fraud are exceedingly rare. Here’s what to know. ## **Documented cases of mail voting fraud are extremely uncommon** Research published by the [Brookings Institute](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/mail-voting-in-the-us-data-points-to-very-low-fraud-and-significant-benefits-to-voters/) in November found that cases of mail-in voting fraud account for merely 0.000043% of all ballots cast by mail, equivalent to roughly four out of every 10 million. The research focused on four of the five most recent general elections: those in 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022\. To make its calculations, Brookings drew on a Heritage Foundation [database](https://electionfraud.heritage.org/search) of election fraud cases that “ended in a finding that the individual engaged in wrongdoing,” identifying cases in which people were charged with fraud related to mail-in voting. In the 2020 election, in which a record number of Americans voted by mail and which Trump has repeatedly claimed he lost as a result of voter fraud, the researchers calculated that those cases comprised just 0.000051% of the mail ballots cast. An [Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-2022-midterm-elections-covid-health-wisconsin-c61fa93a12a1a51d6d9f4e0a21fa3b75) survey of state and election officials in both Democratic- and Republican-run states also found no cases of fraud, vandalism, or theft related to the expanded use of drop boxes for mailed ballots in that year’s election—which Trump and other Republicans raised concerns about being a potential source of fraud—that could have impacted the outcome. **Read more:** [_T_ _rump Keeps Railing Against Non-Citizen Voting. Research Shows It’s Extremely Rare_](https://time.com/7381495/trump-non-citizen-voter-fraud-claims-research-immigration/) Another [study](https://www.amstat.org/docs/default-source/amstat-documents/pol-vote-by-mail.pdf) from 2020, published by the American Statistical Association, estimated the change in the reported number of voter fraud cases after states switched to conducting elections by mail. Comparing the number of voter fraud cases in states where a large portion of voters receive ballots by mail to that in other states, the study found “no evidence that voting by mail increases the risk of voter fraud overall.” Earlier research produced similar findings. An investigation conducted in 2012 by the [News21](https://votingrights.news21.com/article/about/) reporting project, for instance, found just 491 alleged cases of absentee ballot fraud since 2000—a period in which hundreds of millions of votes were cast around the country—based on an analysis including hundreds of interviews and thousands of public records. Although the investigators found that voters frequently make mistakes, such as voting twice or in the wrong precinct, they concluded that few cases revealed a coordinated effort to fraudulently alter election results. Research also shows that mail-in voting expands voter access and participation, providing a secure method of voting to millions who might otherwise not have been able to access the polls. In 2020, for example, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, 46% of all voters received and voted through mailed ballots, according to the [National Vote at Home Institute](https://votingrights.news21.com/article/about/); voter turnout that year was the highest it had been in over 120 years. Another [study](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20531680221089197) found that voter participation increased an average of 5.6% in states that mailed a ballot to registered voters in the 2020 presidential election. ## **States have a number of safeguards to combat fraud** A [handful of states](https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/table-18-states-with-all-mail-elections?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) rely on mail-in ballots as their primary method of voting, including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington. These eight states, as well as Washington D.C., send ballots by default to all eligible voters and allow all elections to be conducted entirely by mail. In an [additional 28 states](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/false-narrative-vote-mail-fraud), people have the right to vote by mail without having to provide a reason. In other states that require an excuse to vote through an [absentee ballot](https://voterhelpdesk.usvotefoundation.org/en/support/solutions/articles/151000049126-do-i-need-a-reason-to-vote-by-absentee-ballot-), voters may receive mail-in ballots under certain circumstances involving age, disability, or physically being absent from their state on election day. States employ multiple tools to combat mail-in voting fraud. According to a [Brennan Center](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/false-narrative-vote-mail-fraud) analysis, the main method used to counter fraud is identity verification. Voters sending in mail-in ballots are required to include their personal details on the ballot envelope. Those details are then cross-referenced with voter rolls to ensure that identifying information such as birth dates, addresses, social security numbers, or drivers’ licenses numbers match. In most states, voters also must sign the envelopes, and their signatures can be cross-referenced with those in registration databases as well. Most ballot envelopes additionally include bar codes, which allow officials to detect duplicate ballots. Many states also offer secure drop-off locations and ballot boxes for voters intended to help prevent ballots going astray or being tampered with in the transfer between voters and election officials. Many of these boxes are placed outside of government buildings and monitored by security cameras. States also often require the boxes to be equipped with certain locks or seals. After elections, most states also carry out [post-election audits](https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/post-election-audits), in which they review voting records, equipment, and certain individual ballots to ensure the results are accurate and identify any irregularities. All but one state require some form of a post-election audit: 31 states and Washington D.C. require the audit to be completed before an election is certified; nine states perform the audit following the certification of an election; and nine states do not specify a deadline for the audit. Alabama is the one state that does not require post-election audits. Both state and federal laws impose significant penalties for people who are found to have committed mail-in voting fraud. On the federal level, each act of fraud can carry up to five years in prison and a fine of $10,000\. 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