The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law carefully examines allegations of fraud to get at the truth behind the claims. The Brennan Center has analyzed purported fraud cited by state and federal courts; multipartisan and bipartisan federal commissions; political party entities; state and local election officials; and authors, journalists, and bloggers. Usually, only a tiny portion of the claimed illegality is substantiated — and most of the remainder is either nothing more than speculation or has been conclusively debunked.

This paper seeks to distill our findings: the truth about voter fraud. It first offers a straightforward definition to avoid the common trap of discussing election irregularities that involve neither voters nor fraud as if they showed voter fraud. It then discusses different alternative reasons more credible than voter fraud to explain many of the recurring allegations. The paper then analyzes, scenario by scenario, some of the more common types of alleged voter fraud and their more likely causes and policy solutions. Finally, the paper presents individual case studies of notorious instances of alleged voter fraud, and finds those allegations to be grossly inflated. For more information, analysis, and opinion about voter fraud, by the Brennan Center and others, please see www.truthaboutfraud.org.

Royal Masset, the former political director for the Republican Party of Texas, concisely tied all of these strands together in a 2007 Houston Chronicle article concerning a highly controversial battle over photo identification legislation in Texas. Masset connected the inflated furor over voter fraud to photo identification laws and their expected impact on legitimate voters:

Among Republicans it is an “article of religious faith that voter fraud is causing us to lose elections,” Masset said. He doesn’t agree with that, but does believe that requiring photo IDs could cause enough of a dropoff in legitimate Democratic voting to add 3 percent to the Republican vote.17

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This remarkably candid observation underscores why it is so critical to get the facts straight on voter fraud. The voter fraud phantom drives policy that disenfranchises actual legitimate voters, without a corresponding actual benefit. Virtuous public policy should stand on more reliable supports.

At a Dallas event featuring Steve Munisteri, the Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, Ken Emanuelson, a leader in the Tea Party, said: “I'm going to be real honest with you – the Republican Party doesn't want black people to vote if they’re going to vote 9-to-1 for Democrats.”

Though a widely publicized law that requires voters to provide photo identification at the ballot box doesn't begin until next year, recall voters will have to sign their names on poll lists before they are given ballots in Tuesday's Democratic primaries, which include elections in Northeastern Wisconsin's 2nd and 14th Senate districts.

"If the voter refuses to sign the poll list, the voter will not be able to vote," said Nathaniel Robinson, elections division administrator with the state Government Accountability Board.

Voters with physical disabilities that prevent them from signing the poll lists are exempt from the rule.

Before the 2011 Voter ID Law took effect June 10, election workers were largely responsible for marking voters' names on poll lists to indicate who voted.

"They occasionally (mark) the wrong name or forget, which can cause problems," Kevin Kennedy, director of the Government Accountability Board, wrote in a statement Friday. "When someone shows up at the polls and finds out he has already been marked as having voted, it raises concerns about election fraud."

Kennedy said requiring voters to sign their names would cut down on clerical errors and also root out genuine cases of fraud.