Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions Sortition, also known as allotment, is an equal-chance method of selection by some form of lottery such as drawing coloured pebbles from a bag A by-election or bye-election (called special election in the United States) is an Election held to fill a political office that has become vacant A show election or a sham election is an Election that is held purely for show that is without any significant political purpose A Fixed-term election is an Election that occurs on a set date and cannot be changed by the incumbent politician A general election is an Election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election A primary election ( nominating primary) also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a Jurisdiction select candidates Indirect election is a process in which voters in an Election do not actually choose between candidates for an office but rather elect persons who will then make the choice Local Elections vary widely across Jurisdictions In Electoral systems that roughly follow the Westminster model, a terminology has evolved A referendum (plural referendums or referenda) ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita Apportionment is the process of allocating political power among a set of principles (or defined constituencies In multiple-party democratic primary elections crossover voting refers to a technique used by voters in which ballots are cast for the party a voter is opposed to in order to elect Gerrymandering is a form of redistribution in which electoral district or Constituency boundaries are manipulated for electoral advantage Redistricting, a form of redistribution, is the process of changing of political Borders in the United States The secret ballot is a voting method in which a Voter 's choices are confidential Suffrage (from the Latin suffragium, meaning "voting tablet" and figuratively "right to vote" probably from suffrago "hough" and originally A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral A voting system allows voters to choose between options often in an Election where candidates are selected for public office. Elections by country gives information on Elections For each De jure and De facto sovereign state and dependent territory The list of election results by country gives information on Elections For each De jure and De facto sovereign state and An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office Acts of fraud tend to involve affecting vote counts to bring about a desired election outcome, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates, or both. In the broadest sense a fraud is a Deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual

Election fraud is probably as old as elections themselves. The first suspicion dates back to 471 BC in the Athenian democracy. Athenian democracy developed in the Greek City-state of Athens Archaeologists found 190 pieces of broken pottery used then as ballots with only 14 different handwritings. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Ostracism ( ostrakismos) was a procedure under the Athenian democracy in which a prominent Citizen could be expelled from the City-state A ballot is a device (originally a small ball—see blackball) used to record choices made by Voters Each voter uses one ballot and ballots are not

Electoral fraud is illegal in most countries including dictatorships likely to both control the electoral process and excuse any measures that achieve a desired result. A dictator is an Authoritarian ruler (eg Absolutist or autocratic) who assumes sole and absolute power without hereditary ascension such as an Absolute

Especially with national elections, successful election fraud can have the effect of a coup d'état or corruption of the democracy. An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office But even if it does not go this far, the 500 million dollar campaigning during the United States general elections, 2006 shows how much might be at stake in some countries. The 2006 United States midterm elections were held on Tuesday November 7 2006. ^[1][2]

A look at some narrow elections with a margin of less than 0. Many Elections have been decided by narrow margins of less than 1 vote in 1000 (a margin of victory of less than 0 1% shows that sometimes there would not be much fraud needed to change the outcome.

Extreme examples of election fraud are sham elections that are a common event in dictatorial regimes that still feel the need to establish some element of public legitimacy, some even showing 100% of eligible voters voting on behalf of the régime. A show election or a sham election is an Election that is held purely for show that is without any significant political purpose A dictator is an Authoritarian ruler (eg Absolutist or autocratic) who assumes sole and absolute power without hereditary ascension such as an Absolute Most people only call a regime democratic as long as electoral fraud is rare, isolated, and small, or that electoral fraud by opposing groups roughly cancels the effects.

Electoral fraud is not limited to political polls and can happen in any kind of election where the potential gain is worth the risk for the cheater, as in elections for labor union officials, student councils, sports judging, and the awarding of merit to books, films, music, or television programming. A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming For colleges and universities see Students' union Student council is a curricular or Extra-curricular activity for

Despite many known instances of electoral fraud, it remains a difficult phenomenon to study and characterize. This follows from its inherent illegality. Harsh penalties aimed at deterring electoral fraud make it likely that any individuals who perpetrate acts of fraud do so with the expectation that it either will not be discovered or will be excused after the fact.

The introduction of secret ballots in the 19th century made electoral fraud more difficult, forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The secret ballot is a voting method in which a Voter 's choices are confidential Intimidation (also called cowing) is intentional behavior "which would cause a person of ordinary sensibilities" fear of Injury or Harm. Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption is an act usually implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient in ways not consistent with the duties of that person Secret balloting appears to have been first implemented in the former Australian colony -- now a state -- of Tasmania on 7 February 1856. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. This article is about a type of political territory For other uses see Colony (disambiguation. The Commonwealth of Australia is made up of 8 states and territories controlled under a federal system of government Tasmania is an Australian island and state of the same name It is located south of the eastern side of the Continent, being separated from it by Bass The first President of the United States elected using a secret ballot was president Grover Cleveland in 1892. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18 1837 June 24 1908 was both the twenty-second and twenty-fourth President of the United States.

Reconstruction, an effort to secure the voting rights of former slaves, ultimately failed in the states of the former Confederate States of America as reactionary interests used violence and intimidation against freedmen as well as political legerdemain to disenfranchise African-Americans, including poll taxes and so-called literacy tests, for almost a century after the American Civil War, ensuring the continuing hegemony of élite agrarian interests at the expense of all other interests in the South until the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Confederate States of America (also called the Confederacy, the Confederate States, and CSA) formed as the government set up from 1861 Ku Klux Klan ( KKK) is the name of several past and present secret domestic terrorist organizations in the United States, generally in the southern states that are A poll tax, head tax, or capitation is a Tax of a uniform fixed amount per individual (as opposed to a percentage of income Literacy Test refers to the government practice of testing the literacy of potential citizens at the federal level and potential voters at the state level Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South Background See also [[Disfranchisement after the Civil War]] The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865 after the Civil War, abolished and prohibited

Enabled by the Reichstag Fire Decree on March 23, 1933, Hitler arrested or murdered all MPs from the Communist Party of Germany that were unable to flee or hide, and some from the Social Democratic Party of Germany. The Reichstag Fire Decree (Reichstagsbrandverordnung is the common name of the Order of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State issued by German president Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately The Communist Party of Germany ( German Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands &ndash KPD) was a major political party in Germany between 1918 He also intimidated most of the other MPs into supporting him. This helped the NSDAP to get the needed two-thirds-majority to pass the Enabling Act giving Hitler dictatorial powers. The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 The Enabling Act ( in German) was passed by the Reichstag ( Germany 's parliament on March 23, 1933 and signed A dictator is an Authoritarian ruler (eg Absolutist or autocratic) who assumes sole and absolute power without hereditary ascension such as an Absolute

Ferdinand Marcos, once fairly elected as President of the Philippines, remained in power and became increasingly dictatorial and kleptocratic as he succeeded in marginalizing dissent and opposition through rigged elections. Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralín Marcos ( September 11, 1917 &ndash September 28, 1989) was President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986 The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP A dictator is an Authoritarian ruler (eg Absolutist or autocratic) who assumes sole and absolute power without hereditary ascension such as an Absolute A kleptocracy (sometimes cleptocracy, occasionally kleptarchy) ( root klepto+kratein = rule by thieves) is a term applied to a

Many dictatorships hold show elections in which results predictably show that nearly 100% of all eligible voters vote and that nearly 100% of those eligible voters vote for the prescribed (often only) list of candidates for office or for referendums that favor the Party in power irrespective of economic conditions and the cruelties of the government. A show election or a sham election is an Election that is held purely for show that is without any significant political purpose

Some notorious examples of electoral fraud in the United States of America include the widespread election manipulation committed by the Daley Machine in 20th century Chicago and Tammany Hall in 19th century New York. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Richard Joseph Daley ( May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) served for 21 years as the undisputed Democratic boss of Chicago A political machine is an unofficial system of a political organization based on Patronage, the Spoils system, "behind-the-scenes" control and longstanding Tammany Hall was the Democratic Party Political machine that played a major role in controlling New York City politics and helping immigrants (most notably

The Ugandan election of 2006 ^[3] and the Kenyan ^[4] election of 2007 were marred by opposition claims that the ruling party had cheated its way back in to power with the heavy use of electoral fraud. The Republic of Uganda is a Landlocked country in East Africa. The Ugandan general election of 2006 took place on February 23, 2006. The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south A presidential election was held as part of the Kenyan general election on December 27 2007; parliamentary elections were held on the same date ^[5]

It is also widely held that the Ukrainian election of 2004 was also hit by ballot rigging and voter intimidation on all sides. ^[6]

Both virulent tabloid press accusations and continuing anecdotal public claims of postal vote fraud in both Birmingham and Hackney still dog many aspects of United Kingdom general election, 2001 and United Kingdom general election, 2005 which are being reviewed in the court of appeal. Postal voting describes the method of voting in an election whereby ballot papers are distributed and/or returned by post to electors in contrast to electors voting in person at a Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um Results |} Total votes cast 26368204 All parties with more than 500 votes shown Results Overview For events leading up to the date of the election see article Pre-election day events of the United Kingdom general ^[7]

There have also been other claims over the Euro-election of 2004 and several local elections in resent years, (including at the 2004 European and local government elections in Birmingham)^[8][9][10]

Contents 1 List of controversial elections 2 Techniques 2.1 Voter intimidation and coercion 2.2 Physical tampering 2.2.1 Physical tampering with voting machines 2.3 Inflation or deflation of voters lists 2.4 Social engineering 2.5 By voters 2.6 During tabulation in the polling place 2.7 During central tabulation of the results 2.8 Through legislative means 3 Smear campaign 4 Election fraud in legislature 5 Fraud prevention 5.1 Prosecution 5.2 Election observation 5.3 End-to-end Auditablity 5.4 Testing and certification of electronic voting 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

List of controversial elections

• Bleeding Kansas election, March 30, 1855
• United States presidential election, 1876
• Romanian general election, 1946
• Bulgarian plebiscite on monarchy, 1946
• United States presidential election, 1960
• Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly Election, 1951-Legislature elected by this election ratified Indian rule in Kashmir, providing India with legitimacy, but no pro-Pakistan parties contested the polls, and pro-India candidates were elected unopposed
• Greek legislative election, 1961
• Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Election, 1987-The insurgecy in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has been linked to the allegations that the election was rigged in favour of the National Conference Party of Farooq Abdullah. Results The ruling Labour Party polled poorly in the local elections and was beaten into third place in terms of share of the vote after the Conservative Party Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um Bleeding Kansas, sometimes referred to in history as Bloody Kansas or the Border War, was a series of violent events involving Free-Staters Please DO NOT flip the colors --> The United States presidential election of 1876 was one of the most disputed and intense presidential elections in American history The Romanian general election of 1946 was a General election held on November 19, 1946, in Romania. The United States presidential election of 1960 marked the end of Dwight D The Greek legislative election of the 19 February 1961 resulted in the third in a row victory for Constantine Karamanlis and his National Radical ( Dogri: जम्मू और कश्मीर Urdu: جموں و کشمیر is the northernmost state of India. Farooq Abdullah ( Urdu: فاروق عبدالله born 21 October 1936 in Soura, Jammu & Kashmir, India) is the son of
• Mexican general election, 1988
• Serbian parliamentary election, 1992
• Serbian presidential election, 1992
• Serbian parliamentary election, 1993
• Serbian presidential election, September–October 1997
• Serbian presidential election, December 1997
• Serbian parliamentary election, 1997
• Chadian presidential election, 1996
• Chadian parliamentary election, 1997
• Peruvian national election, 2000
• Russian presidential election, 1996
• Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2000
• 2000 United States election, controversy in Florida
• 2002 New Hampshire Senate election phone jamming scandal
• Georgian legislative election, 2003, Fraud allegations
• 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy and irregularities
  • 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy, voting machines
  • 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy, vote suppression
  • 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy, exit polls
  • 2004 U.S. presidential election recounts and legal challenges
  • 2004 U.S. election voting controversies, Florida
  • 2004 U.S. election voting controversies, Ohio
• Romanian legislative election, 2004
• Philippine presidential election, 1986 (see also People Power Revolution)
• Philippine general election, 2004 (see also Hello Garci scandal)
• Ukrainian presidential election, 2004
• United Kingdom general election, 2001 ^[11]
• United Kingdom general election, 2005 ^[12]
• Washington gubernatorial election, 2004
• Egyptian presidential election, 2005
• Ethiopian general election, 2005
• Belarusian presidential election, 2006
• Mexican general election 2006 controversies
• Italian general election, 2006
• Morocco elections, 2006
• Nigerian general election, 2007
• Russian legislative election, 2007
• Zimbawe Presidential elections, 2008

Techniques

Voter intimidation and coercion

• Intimidation of voters that prevents them from voting, such as by voter suppression. The general election was held in Mexico on Wednesday July 6, 1988. Parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of Serbia on April 27, 1992. Presidential elections were held in the Republic of Serbia on December 20, 1992. Elections were held in December 1997 for the new President of the Republic of Serbia (a component state within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Milan Milutinović The elections for the Parliament of the Republic of Serbia (a constituent state of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) held on 21 September 1997 A presidential election was held in Chad in 1996 occurring in two rounds the first on June 2 and the second on July 3. The Chadian parliamentary elections of 1997 was the first multi-party parliamentary election held since Chad 's independence in 1960. The 2000 national election in Peru was highly controversial and widely considered to have been fraudulent Presidential elections were held in Russia in 1996. Incumbent Russian President Boris Yeltsin was seeking a four-year term The elections were called by President Chandrika Kumaratunga for October 24, 2000. The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Democratic candidate Al Gore, then Vice President, and Republican The 2002 New Hampshire Senate election phone jamming scandal involves the use of a Telemarketing firm hired by that state's Republican Party (NHGOP for election Parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of Georgia on November 2 2003. After the November 2, 2004 Election in the United States, concerns were raised about various aspects of the voting process including whether voting had After the November 2, 2004 Election in the United States, concerns were raised about various aspects of the voting process including whether voting had After the November 2, 2004 Election in the United States, concerns were raised about various aspects of the voting process including whether voting had After the November 2, 2004 Election in the United States, concerns were raised about various aspects of the voting process including whether voting had Florida was under the national spotlight prior the 2004 Presidential election being the Swing state with the largest number of Electoral votes (27 After the November 2, 2004 Election in the United States, concerns were raised about various aspects of the voting process including whether voting had The Romanian legislative election of 2004 was held on November 28, 2004. The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Snap elections were held on February 7, 1986 in the Philippines. Presidential elections, legislative elections and local elections were held in the Philippines on May 10, 2004. The Hello Garci scandal (2005—present (or just Hello Garci) is a Political scandal and electoral crisis in the Philippines. The presidential election held in November and December 2004 in Ukraine was mostly a political battle between Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych Results |} Total votes cast 26368204 All parties with more than 500 votes shown Results Overview For events leading up to the date of the election see article Pre-election day events of the United Kingdom general The election for governor of the US state of Washington on November 2 2004 gained national attention for its legal twists turns and extremely close finish The Egyptian presidential election of 2005, held on September 7, 2005, was the first allegedly contested presidential election in Egypt 's history Ethiopia held general elections on May 15, 2005, for seats in both its national and in four regional government councils The elections for the position of President of Belarus took place on March 19 2006. The results of the Mexican general election of July 2, 2006 were Controversial and are still being contested In the Italian general election 2006 for the renewal of the two Chambers of the Parliament of Italy held on April 9 and April 10, 2006 Elections in Morocco are held on a national level for the Legislature. The Nigerian general elections of 2007 were held on 14 April and 21 April 2007. Legislative elections were held in the Russian Federation on December 2 2007. Voter suppression is a form of Electoral fraud and refers to the use of governmental power political campaign strategy and private resources aimed at suppressing (i
• Disrupting voting in polling stations in areas with unwanted political tendencies for example with bomb threats to polling places^[13] or other sabotage, including ballots, ballot boxes, or voting machines. Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening an enemy oppressor or employer through subversion obstruction disruption and/or destruction A ballot is a device (originally a small ball—see blackball) used to record choices made by Voters Each voter uses one ballot and ballots are not A ballot box is a temporarily sealed container usually cuboid though sometimes a tamper resistant bag with a narrow slot in the top sufficient to accept a ballot paper Voting machines are the total combination of mechanical electromechanical or electronic equipment (including Software, Firmware, and documentation required to program
• Using caging lists for voter suppression
• For example, in 2004, police stationed outside a Cook County, Illinois, polling place were allegedly requesting photo ID and telling voters (falsely) that if they had been convicted of a felony, they could not vote. Caging is a term of art in the Direct mail industry as well as a term applied to a technique of Voter suppression. ^[14]
• Also in 2004, for example, In Pima, Arizona, voters at multiple polls were allegedly confronted by an individual, wearing a black t-shirt with “US Constitution Enforcer” and a military-style belt that gave the appearance he was armed. He asked voters if they were citizens, accompanied by a cameraman who filmed the encounters. ^[15]
• Voters often complain about misinformation campaigns via flyers or phone calls encouraging them to vote on a day other than election day or spreading false information regarding their right to vote. In Polk County, Florida, in 2004, for example, voters allegedly received a call telling them to vote on November 3 (the election was on November 2). Also in 2004, in Wisconsin and elsewhere voters allegedly received flyers that said, “If you already voted in any election this year, you can’t vote in the Presidential Election”, implying that those who had voted in earlier primary elections were ineligible to vote. Also, “If anybody in your family has ever been found guilty of anything you can’t vote in the Presidential Election. ” Finally, “If you violate any of these laws, you can get 10 years in prison and your children will be taken away from you. ”^[16][17]
• Another simple, but notorious method of voter intimidation is the shoe polish method, which is often used in company towns. A company town is a Town or City in which all Real estate, Buildings (both residential and commercial) Utilities This method entails coating the voting machines lever or button of the opposing candidate(s) with shoe polish. Voting machines are the total combination of mechanical electromechanical or electronic equipment (including Software, Firmware, and documentation required to program To understand how this works, take the example of an employee of the company who, against the advice of the party in power, votes for the opposing candidate(s). After they leave the voting booth, a conspirator to the fraud (a precinct captain or other local V. I. P. ) will handshake the voter. A handshake is a short Ritual in which two people grasp each other's right or left hand often accompanied by a brief up and down movement of the grasped hands The conspirator will then subtly check their hand for any shoe polish and will note that the voter has left some shoe polish after the handshake. Soon afterward that unfortunate voter gets fired from his job.
• Buying or coercing votes from persons who would normally vote for another candidate or would not vote at all, but who are nevertheless eligible to vote.
• Intimidation of voters that alters their vote. "Four-legged voting," where precinct workers would pull the levers on voting machines instead of the voter. A precinct is a space enclosed by the walls or other boundaries of a particular place or building or by an arbitrary and imaginary line drawn around it
• Absentee and other remote voting can be more open to some forms of intimidation and coercion as the voter does not have the protection and privacy of the polling location. An absentee ballot is a Vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official Polling station. Postal voting describes the method of voting in an election whereby ballot papers are distributed and/or returned by post to electors in contrast to electors voting in person at a
• In Britain, one historically popular technique has been long known as granny farming, after a contemptuous slang designation for retirement homes. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Slang is the use of highly informal Words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's Dialect or Language. In this, party activists visit retirement homes, purportedly to help the elderly and immobile exercise their voting rights. A retirement home is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the Elderly. Residents are asked to fill out 'absentee voter' forms, allowing them a proxy or postal vote. An absentee ballot is a Vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official Polling station. When the forms are signed and gathered, they are then secretly rewritten as applications for proxy votes, naming party activists or their friends and relatives as the proxies. These people, unknown to the voter, then cast the vote for the party of their choice. This trick relies on elderly care home residents typically being absent-minded, or suffering from dementia. Dementia (from Latin de- "apart away" + Mens ( genitive mentis) "mind" is the progressive decline A case for this had occurred into the United States, when Kwame Kilpatrick was running for reelection as mayor of Detroit. Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 6, 1970) now a Convicted felon, served as mayor of Detroit Michigan from 2002 to 2008 Kilpatrick supporters had nursing home residents sign absentee ballots which were either already marked or later marked as voting for Kilpatrick.

Physical tampering

• Ballot stuffing, also called "ghost voting. Ballot stuffing is the illegal act of one person submitting multiple Ballots during a Vote in which only one ballot per person is permitted "
• Booth capturing is a persistent problem in Indian democracy where thugs of one party "capture" a polling booth and stamp their votes, threatening everyone. Booth capturing is a type of Electoral fraud, found primarily in India, in which party loyalists "capture" a polling booth and vote in place of India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country
• Theft or destruction of ballot boxes.
• Destroying election material in order to annul results for individual polling stations or even whole constituencies.

Physical tampering with voting machines

• Change the software of a voting machine to shift votes between candidates. A demonstration how this can be done on a Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold Election Systems) AccuVote-TS was conducted by the Center for Information Technology Policy, at the University of Princeton. Premier Election Solutions, formerly Diebold Election Systems Inc ^[18]. Another demonstration was shown on Dutch TV by the group "Wij vertrouwen stemcomputers niet". ^[19]
• Altering or replacing the hardware of the voting machine, such as inserting a circuit board using a Man in the middle attack technique to manipulate recorded votes. Hardware is a general term that refers to the physical artifacts of a Technology. Voting machines are the total combination of mechanical electromechanical or electronic equipment (including Software, Firmware, and documentation required to program In Cryptography, the man-in-the-middle attack or bucket-brigade attack (often abbreviated MITM) sometimes Janus attack, is a The board could be placed between keyboard, display and voting storage. In the case of Nedap machines this would allow manipulation without breaking the seals covering the central unit. ^[20]. Another place for a man in the middle attack could be between the central unit and the printer, but this would only be useful on machines where the stored votes will not be verified by other means like a display.
• Altering voting machines to favor one candidate over another, for example by jamming a button or changing the sensitive area of a touchscreen. A Touch Screen is a display which can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area ^[21]
• Intentional misconfiguration, for example altering the ballot design to misidentify a candidates party.
• Voting machines might also be subject to Van Eck phreaking on the display or keyboard, compromising the secrecy of the votes. Van Eck phreaking is the process of Eavesdropping on the contents of a CRT display by detecting its Electromagnetic emissions. ^[22]
• One voting machine possibly subject to ballot stuffing if the voter is allowed unsupervised access, is the Sequoia Voting Systems AVC Edge touchscreen. Ballot stuffing is the illegal act of one person submitting multiple Ballots during a Vote in which only one ballot per person is permitted Sequoia Voting Systems is a California -based company that isone of the largest providers of Electronic voting systems in the U These machines have a yellow button on the bottom (the reverse side of the touch screen) which if pressed after a valid vote will set the machine in "manual mode" bringing up a blank ballot allowing an additional vote. ^[23]. This is an optional feature not found on all AVC Edge touchscreens, and is programmed to alert supervisors with two audible beeps.
• Abusing the administrative access to the machine by election officials might also allow individuals to vote multiple times.
• Electronic, and mechanical voting machines can be subject to different types of electoral fraud, as potential fraud could be incorrectly categorized as a technical problem. Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is a term encompassing several different types of Voting, embracing both electronic means of casting a vote and electronic

A list of other threats to voting systems is kept by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. ^[24]

The most comprehensive study on attacking electronic voting machines has been compiled by the Brennan Center for Justice. ^[25]

Inflation or deflation of voters lists

• Registering false voters such as the deceased or even fictitious persons.
• Subverting voter registration rules, such as with "fagot voters. " (persons who had land assigned to them prior to an election and removed immediately after an election to meet requirements to vote),^[26] through "colonization" (the process of transporting groups of men from other cities and lodging them in flophouses). A flophouse (English doss-house or dosshouse) is a place that offers very cheap Lodging, generally by providing only ^[27]

Social engineering

• People pretending to help elderly or blind persons with their vote.
• Election officials misinforming voters of when their vote is recorded and later recording it themselves. This apparently happened during municipality elections in Landerd, Netherlands in 2006 where a candidate was also an election official and got the unusual amount of 181 votes in the polling place where he was working. Landerd ( is a Municipality within the province of North Brabant in the southern Netherlands. In the other three polling places together he got 11 votes. ^[28] Only circumstantial evidence could be found because the voting machine was a direct-recording electronic voting machine, in a poll by a local newspaper the results were totally different. Circumstantial evidence is a collection of Facts that when considered together can be used to infer a conclusion about something unknown A direct-recording electronic (DRE Voting machine records votes by means of a Ballot display provided with mechanical or electro-optical components that can be activated The case is still under prosecution. ^[29]

By voters

• Impersonating a voter. Personation (rather than ''im''personation) is a term used in Politics for the specific kind of Voter fraud where an individual votes in an Election
• Voting in multiple precincts, carousel voting. Men who were known to sell their vote and vote in multiple precincts were known as "floaters. "^[27] In the United States, fifty-two people have been convicted of federal election fraud for voting in multiple locations since 2002. ^[30] In some countries like El Salvador, Namibia or Afghanistan voters get a finger marked with election ink to prevent multiple votes. El Salvador ( República de El Salvador,) is a country in Central America. Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa on the Atlantic coast Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Election ink or electoral stain is a semi-permanent Ink or Dye that is applied to the Forefinger (usually of voting during In the Afghanistan elections in 2005 this didn't work well because the ink could be rubbed off.
• Voter import: In Bulgaria the controversial Movement for Rights and Freedoms is said to combine the former two, by "importing" voters from Turkey at the day of the election, who then vote in every single polling station within a city. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (Движение за права и свободи Dvizhenie za prava i svobodi; Hak ve Özgürlükler Hareketi is an ethnic Turkish Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches Similarly, in Malaysia immigrants from neighbouring Philippines and Indonesia were given citizenship together with voting rights in order for a political party to "dominate" the state of Sabah in a controversial process referred to as Project IC. For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. Sabah is a Malaysian state located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. Project IC is the name used in Malaysia to describe the allegation of systematic granting of citizenship to immigrants (whether illegal or legal immigrants by giving them ^[31]
• Vote selling: This is possible as long as a voter has a way to prove how he voted. Because of this a secret ballot is preferred and postal- or internet voting is just accepted as an exception in most electoral systems. The secret ballot is a voting method in which a Voter 's choices are confidential Postal voting describes the method of voting in an election whereby ballot papers are distributed and/or returned by post to electors in contrast to electors voting in person at a Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is a term encompassing several different types of Voting, embracing both electronic means of casting a vote and electronic (also see Blocks of Five) In Mexico and several other places, voters willing to sell their vote are asked to take a picture of their ballot with a cellphone camera to validate their payment. The Blocks of Five were groups of electors who sold their votes to the United States Republican Party for the United States presidential election of
• Changing parties: voters (in elections for party leader) who change membership of parties in order to elect a weaker candidate to run against the leader of thier original party.

During tabulation in the polling place

• Bribery, corruption or threatening of election officials.
• Destroying all ballots if the balance was not as desired.
• Tampering with tabulation software (applicable only to computer assisted tabulation). This apparently happened in the Mexican general election, 1988. The general election was held in Mexico on Wednesday July 6, 1988.
• Spoiling votes: for example, by marking more candidates than allowed. In Voting, a Ballot is considered to be spoilt, void, null or informal if it is regarded by the Election authorities
• Counting electronic ballots of voting machines, usually memory cards, more than once if they contain votes as wanted by the fraudster. A ballot is a device (originally a small ball—see blackball) used to record choices made by Voters Each voter uses one ballot and ballots are not Voting machines are the total combination of mechanical electromechanical or electronic equipment (including Software, Firmware, and documentation required to program A memory card or flash memory card is a solid-state electronic Flash memory Data storage device used with Digital The opposite is to let them disappear in case of unwanted votes, this is equivalent to stealing a whole ballot box. ^[32]
• Obstructing vote counting. ^[33]
• Double marking. A corrupt election official will conceal a piece of pencil lead underneath his fingernail, in which he covertly marks an unvoted box in an area where the maximum number of votes has already been cast. Since this ballot is then considered overvoted, it is discarded, effectively throwing out the voter's vote.

During central tabulation of the results

• Bribery or corruption of election officials. This apparently happened in the Philippine general election, 2004 and is suspected in the Italian general election, 2006. The Hello Garci scandal (2005—present (or just Hello Garci) is a Political scandal and electoral crisis in the Philippines. In the Italian general election 2006 for the renewal of the two Chambers of the Parliament of Italy held on April 9 and April 10, 2006
• Interfering in the data transmission.

Through legislative means

• Gerrymandering (drawing voting district lines in such a way as to obtain a favorable result) or including prison inmates in a local population are also often argued to be forms of electoral fraud. Gerrymandering is a form of redistribution in which electoral district or Constituency boundaries are manipulated for electoral advantage
• Creating additional barriers to vote can also be considered fraud, such as requiring extensive forms of identification.
• Mandating voter matching standards be too strict (purging voters from the rolls and disenfranchising eligible voters) or too loose (leaving ineligible voters on the rolls and making the system vulnerable to fraud).
• Creating election deadlines that are unreasonable to certain portions of the electorate, such as requiring active duty military ballots to be delivered before it would be possible for them to be mailed.
• Disqualification of candidates by arbitrary means. One example was the 1990 mayoral race in Washington DC when Jesse Jackson considered running for DC mayor, which concerned incumbent mayor Marion Barry who had been polling very low and felt he could not compete with Jackson's popularity. Jesse Louis Jackson Sr (born October 8 1941 is an American Civil rights activist and Baptist minister. Marion Shepilov Barry Jr (born March 6, 1936) is an American politician who served as the second elected mayor of the District of Columbia Since Jackson made most of his money from speeches, Barry ordered the DC Council to pass a law making it illegal for anyone to run for mayor of Washington DC who makes more than $10,000 a year from honorarium. An honorarium is an Ex gratia payment made to a person for their services in a volunteer capacity or for services for which fees are not traditionally required This became known as the "Jesse Jackson law", as the sole intent of the law was to declare Jackson unsuitable for election. ^[34]

Smear campaign

• Smear campaigns are illegal in the Philippines and can thus be considered election fraud. A smear campaign, smear tactic or simply smear is a Metaphor for activity that can harm an individual or group's reputation by conflation with The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP
• Laws exist in the UK to prevent untrue statements being made about candidates—see Miranda Grell for a 2007 case. Miranda Agnes Jayne Grell (born June 1978 is a former Labour party politician and councillor for the London Borough of Waltham Forest.

Election fraud in legislature

Election fraud in legislature is qualitatively different because the number of voters is smaller. For example,

• The two-thirds majority Hitler needed to pass the Enabling Act, which gave him dictatorial power, was only attained by arresting enough members of the opposition. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately The Enabling Act ( in German) was passed by the Reichstag ( Germany 's parliament on March 23, 1933 and signed A dictator is an Authoritarian ruler (eg Absolutist or autocratic) who assumes sole and absolute power without hereditary ascension such as an Absolute The act had a two-year expiration date, which had the option for renewal. After the start of the Second World War, the last opposition to the act's renewal was extinguished. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Hitler treated the Enabling Act's renewal as a matter of appearance, knowing he could get the renewal rubber stamped by a Reichstag made entirely of Nazi party members, even getting a renewal as late as 1944 and planning on getting a rubber stamped renewal in 1946.
• The controversial method of using a paper-clip or bubblegum to jam a representative's voting button in absence. ^[35]
• In 2004 security expert Bruce Schneier published a theoretical paper how election fraud in the papal election could be done. Bruce Schneier (born 15 January 1963) is an American Cryptographer, Computer security specialist and Writer. Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an Election. A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals to elect the Pope (or Bishop of Rome) who is considered by Catholics to be the Successor ^[36]

Fraud prevention

The best way to protect the electorate from electoral fraud is to have an election process which is completely transparent to all voters, from nomination of candidates through casting of the votes and tabulation. A key feature in insuring the integrity of any part of the electoral process is a strict chain of custody. Chain of custody refers to the chronological documentation and/or Paper trail, showing the seizure custody control transfer analysis and disposition of Evidence

To prevent fraud in central tabulation, there has to be a public list of the results from every single polling place. This is the only way for voters to prove that the results they witnessed in their election office are correctly incorporated into the totals.

Various forms of statistics can be indicators for election fraud e. A statistic (singular is the result of applying a function (statistical Algorithm) to a set of data. g. exit polls which are very different from the final results. An exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations Having reliable exit polls could keep the amount of fraud low to avoid a controversy. Other indicators might be unusual high numbers of invalid ballots, overvoting or undervoting. It has to be kept in mind that most statistics do not reflect the types of election fraud which prevent citizens from voting at all like intimidation or misinformation.

There may, however, be a problem with exit-polls or other verifications methods dependent on the honesty of the voters; for instance, in the Czech Republic (previously part of Czechoslovakia), some voters are afraid or ashamed to admit that they voted for the Communist Party, often claiming to have voted for other party than Communists (exit polls in 2002 gave Communist party 2-3 percents lower gain than was the actual case).

Prosecution

In countries with strong laws and effective legal systems, lawsuits can be brought against those who have allegedly committed fraud; but determent with legal prosecution would not be enough. Although the penalties for getting caught may be severe, the rewards for succeeding are likely to be worth the risk. The rewards range from benefits in contracting to total control of a country.

In Germany there are currently calls for reform of these laws because lawsuits can be and are usually prolonged by the newly elected Bundestag^[37]

Election observation

In countries with high rates of corruption and in countries new to democracy, international observers, e. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Bundestag ("Federal Diet " or "Lower House of German Parliament" is the Parliament of Germany. g. , from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) may be brought in to observe the elections. OSCE has observed over 150 elections and referendums between 1995 and 2006, sending more than 15,000 observers. Recently observed elections have been the Afghanistan presidential elections in October 2004, the 2004 U.S. presidential election and the Belarusian presidential election, 2006. Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, After the November 2, 2004 Election in the United States, concerns were raised about various aspects of the voting process including whether voting had The elections for the position of President of Belarus took place on March 19 2006.

Besides international observers there might be local observers:

• Justice Department^[38]
• Political parties, e. For animal rights group see Justice Department (JD The United States Department of Justice ( DOJ) is a Cabinet department g. , the United States Democratic Party's election protection program. The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. ^[39]
• Poll watchers from election integrity groups. Most of them also offer information websites and phone hotlines for voters to report problems. Some of them also help with voter registration. Voter registration is the requirement in some democracies for Citizens and residents to check in with some central registry specifically for the purpose of being allowed Examples are VoteTrust USA and Verified Voting Foundation.

Critics note that observers cannot spot certain types of election fraud like targeted voter suppression or manipulated software of voting machines. Voter suppression is a form of Electoral fraud and refers to the use of governmental power political campaign strategy and private resources aimed at suppressing (i Voting machines are the total combination of mechanical electromechanical or electronic equipment (including Software, Firmware, and documentation required to program

End-to-end Auditablity

End-to-end auditable voting systems provide voters with a receipt to allow them to verify their vote was cast correctly, and an audit mechanism to verify that the results were tabulated correctly and all votes were cast by valid voters. End-to-end auditable or end-to-end voter verifiable (E2E systems are voting systems with stringent integrity properties and strong tamper-resistance However, the ballot receipt does not permit voters to prove to others how they voted, since this would open the door towards forced voting and blackmail.

Testing and certification of electronic voting

Further information: Certification of voting machines

One method for verifying voting machine accuracy is Parallel Testing, the process of using an independent set of results compared against the original machine results. Various governments require a certification of Voting machines In the United States there is only a voluntary federal certification for Voting machines Voting machines are the total combination of mechanical electromechanical or electronic equipment (including Software, Firmware, and documentation required to program Parallel testing can be done prior to or during an election. During an election, one form of parallel testing is the VVPAT. This method is only effective if statistically significant numbers of voters verify that their intended vote matches both the electronic and paper votes. In Statistics, a result is called statistically significant if it is unlikely to have occurred by Chance.

On election day, a statistically significant number of voting machines can be randomly selected from polling locations and used for testing. In Statistics, a result is called statistically significant if it is unlikely to have occurred by Chance. This can be used to detect potential fraud or malfunction unless a manipulated software would only start to cheat after a certain event like a voter pressing a special key combination (Or a machine might cheat only if someone doesn't perform the combination, which requires more insider access but fewer voters).

Another form of testing is Logic & Accuracy Testing (L&A), pre-election testing of voting machines using test votes to determine if they are functioning correctly.

Another method to insure the integrity of electronic voting machines is independent software verification and certification. Software verification is a broad and complex discipline of Software engineering whose goal is to assure that software fully satisfies all the expected requirements Various governments require a certification of Voting machines In the United States there is only a voluntary federal certification for Voting machines Once software is certified, code signing can insure the software certified is identical to that which is used on election day. Some argue certification would be more effective if voting machine software was publicly available or open source. Open source is a development methodology which offers practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge

Certification and testing processes conducted publicly and with oversight from interested parties can promote transparency in the election process. The integrity of those conducting testing can be questioned.

Testing and certification can prevent voting machines from being a black box where voters can not be sure that counting inside is done as intended. Black Box Voting signifies Voting on Voting machines which do not disclose how they operate such as with Closed source or Proprietary operations

See also

• Ballot stuffing
• Branch stacking
• Caging list
• Cooping
• Florida Central Voter File (purging controversy)
• Political corruption
• Postal voting
• Show election
• Smear campaign
• American Center for Voting Rights

References

External links

• Voter Fraud - an article from the ACE Project
• Independent Verification: Essential Action to Assure Integrity in the Voting Process, Roy G. Saltman, August 22, 2006
• Legal provisions to prevent Electoral Fraud - an article from the ACE Project
• Was the 2004 Election Stolen?by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , June 1, 2006.
• Article referencing "four-legged voting"
• Vote Fraud Actors and Motivation
• Vote Fraud Strategy and Tactics
• No Paper Trail Left Behind: The Theft of the 2004 Presidential Election, by Dennis Loo, Ph.D
• Electronic Voting: Safe or Fraudulent?

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