ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) — An Related Press evaluate of each potential case of voter fraud within the six battleground states disputed by former President Donald Trump has discovered fewer than 475 — a quantity that may have made no distinction within the 2020 presidential election.
Democrat Joe Biden gained Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and their 79 Electoral School votes by a mixed 311,257 votes out of 25.5 million ballots solid for president. The disputed ballots characterize simply 0.15 % of his victory margin in these states.
WATCH: How Arizona’s election evaluate is offering a nationwide playbook for disgruntled politicians
The instances couldn’t throw the end result into query even when all these votes have been for Biden, which they weren’t, and even when these ballots have been truly counted, which normally they weren’t.
The evaluate additionally confirmed no collusion meant to rig the voting. Nearly each case was based mostly on a person performing alone to solid extra ballots.
“Voter fraud is just about non-existent,” mentioned George Christenson, election clerk for Milwaukee County in Wisconsin, the place 5 individuals statewide have been charged with fraud out of almost 3.3 million ballots solid. “I must enterprise a guess that’s about the identical odds as getting hit by lightning.”
The AP evaluate, a course of that took months and encompassed greater than 300 native election workplaces, is one probably the most complete examinations of suspected voter fraud in final yr’s presidential election. It depends on info collected on the native degree, the place officers should reconcile their ballots and account for discrepancies, and features a handful of separate instances cited by secretaries of state and state attorneys normal.
Contacted for remark, Trump repeated a litany of unfounded claims of fraud he had made beforehand, however supplied no new proof that particularly contradicted the AP’s reporting. He mentioned a soon-to-come report from a supply he wouldn’t disclose would assist his case, and insisted elevated mail voting alone had opened the door to dishonest that concerned “lots of of hundreds of votes.”
“I simply don’t suppose it’s best to make a idiot out of your self by saying 400 votes,” he mentioned.
As he weighs one other run for president in 2024, Trump has waded into some Republican main contests, bestowing endorsements on those that mimic his “Cease the steal” rhetoric and in search of to precise revenge on some who’ve opposed his efforts to overturn the outcomes.
False claims of a stolen election fueled the lethal Jan. 6 tried riot on the Capitol and have led to loss of life threats towards election officers that persist a yr later.
The variety of instances recognized by native elections officers and forwarded to prosecutors, native regulation enforcement or secretaries of state for additional evaluate undercuts Trump’s declare. Additionally they underscore that there was no coordinated try and rig the election. As an alternative, they overwhelmingly present people performing on their very own in an try and solid a second poll.
WATCH: As Senate examines Trump’s bid to overturn 2020 loss, GOP voters nonetheless purchase fraud claims
Among the many culprits within the “large election fraud” Trump says disadvantaged him of a second time period are a Wisconsin man who mistakenly thought he might vote whereas on parole, a lady in Arizona suspected of sending in a poll for her useless mom and a Pennsylvania man who went twice to the polls — voting as soon as on his personal behalf and as soon as for his son.
Election officers say that normally, these extra ballots have been by no means counted as a result of employees did their jobs and pulled them for inspection earlier than they have been added to the tally.
For its evaluate, AP reporters in 5 states contacted roughly 340 election workplaces for particulars about each occasion of potential voter fraud that was recognized as a part of their post-election evaluate and certification course of.
After an election is over, officers analysis voter data, request and evaluate extra info if wanted from the state or different counties, and ultimately resolve whether or not to refer potential fraud instances for additional investigation.
For Wisconsin, the AP relied on a report about fraud investigations compiled by the state and filed public data requests to get the main points of every case, along with prosecutions that weren’t initially reported to the state elections fee. Wisconsin is the one one of many six states with a centralized accounting of all potential voter fraud instances.
WATCH: How false fraud claims are eroding integrity of American election system
State-by-state particulars:
- Arizona: Authorities have been investigating 198 doable fraud instances out of almost 3.4 million votes solid, representing 1.9 % of Biden’s margin of victory within the state. To date, 9 individuals have been charged.
- Georgia: Election officers have recognized 64 potential voter fraud instances, representing 0.54 % of Biden’s margin of victory. Of these, 31 have been decided to be the results of an administrative error or another mistake. The state lawyer normal’s workplace is reviewing about 20 instances, but it surely’s not recognized if these overlap with ones recognized by native election officers.
- Michigan: Officers have recognized 56 potential situations of voter fraud, representing 0.04 % of Biden’s margin of victory. The majority of the instances concerned two individuals suspected of submitting about 50 fraudulent requests for absentee ballots in Macomb, Wayne and Oakland counties.
- Nevada: Native officers recognized between 93 and 98 potential fraud instances out of 1.4 million ballots solid, representing lower than one-third of 1 % of Biden’s margin of victory. Greater than half the full — 58 — have been in Washoe County, which incorporates Reno, and the overwhelming majority concerned allegations of doable double voting.
- Pennsylvania: Election officers in 11 of the state’s 67 counties have recognized 26 doable instances of voter fraud, representing 0.03 % of Biden’s margin of victory.
- Wisconsin: Election officers have referred 31 instances of potential fraud to prosecutors in 12 of the state’s 72 counties, representing about 0.15 % of Biden’s margin of victory. After reviewing them, prosecutors declined to carry costs in 26 of these instances.
Extra voter fraud instances are nonetheless doable. Whereas the AP evaluate illustrates that such instances do happen, safeguards guarantee they’re few and that they’re caught, mentioned Ben Hovland, a Democrat appointed by Trump to serve on the U.S. Election Help Fee, which helps the state and native officers who administer elections.
“Each credible examination has proven there was no widespread fraud” within the 2020 presidential election, Hovland mentioned. “Repeatedly when now we have heard these claims and heard these allegations, and whenever you do an actual investigation you see that it’s the exception and never the rule.”
Contributing to this report have been Related Press knowledge journalist Camille Fassett in Oakland, California; reporter Colleen Lengthy in Washington; AP state authorities reporters Scott Bauer in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; Bob Christie in Phoenix; David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan; Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee, Florida; and Michelle L. Value in New York Metropolis; and different AP reporters in Michigan and Pennsylvania.