Electoral fraud
This article is part of the
Politics series
Elections
• Allotment (sortition)
• By-election
• Electoral fraud
• Show election
• Fixed-term election
• General election
• Primary election
• Indirect election
• Local election
• Referendum
• Criticisms of electoralism
Terminology
• Apportionment
• Crossover voting
• Gerrymandering
• Redistribution (redistricting)
• Secret ballot
• Suffrage
Subseries
• Political party
• Voting
• Voting systems
Lists
• Elections by country
• Election results by country
• Electoral calendar
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Electoral fraud is illegal interference with
the process of an election. Acts of fraud tend
to involve affecting vote counts to bring
about a election result, whether by increas-
ing the vote share of the favored candidate,
depressing the vote share of the rival candid-
ates or both. What electoral fraud is under
law varies from country to country; methods
which are illegal in one country may not be in
another. Many kinds of voter fraud are out-
lawed in electoral legislation but others are
in violation of general laws such as those
banning assault, harassment or libel. Al-
though technically the term ’electoral fraud’
covers only those acts which are illegal, the
term is sometimes used to describe acts
which although legal, are considered to be
morally unacceptable, outside the spirit of
electoral laws or in violation of the principles
of democracy. Show elections, in which only
one candidate can win, are sometimes con-
sidered to be electoral fraud although they
may comply with the law.
In national elections, successful electoral
fraud can have the effect of a coup d’état or
corruption of democracy. In a narrow elec-
tion a small amount of fraud may be enough
to change the result. If the result is not af-
fected, fraud can still have a damaging effect
if not punished, as it can reduce voters’ con-
fidence in democracy. Even the perception of
fraud can be damaging as it makes people
less inclined to accept election results. This
can lead to the breakdown of democracy