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FalsePoliticsLast updated: July 10, 2026

2020 US election fraud

Claims that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was stolen through widespread fraud have been rejected by more than 60 courts, election officials of both parties, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and independent audits including one commissioned by Republicans in Arizona.

Written by Iggy Pomp · Reviewed by Igor Pomper · Last updated July 10, 2026

What we know

The 2020 U.S. presidential election was subjected to extraordinary post-election scrutiny, more than any prior US election in modern history. More than 60 lawsuits challenging the results were filed in state and federal courts across the country by the Trump campaign and allied groups. Nearly all were dismissed or rejected, by judges appointed by both Democratic and Republican presidents, including several Trump appointees, due to insufficient or non-credible evidence of fraud sufficient to change the outcome of any race.

CISA, the federal government's dedicated election security agency, issued a formal statement on November 12, 2020, signed jointly with election officials' organizations representing both parties, stating that the November 3rd election was the most secure in American history and that there was no evidence any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised. CISA Director Chris Krebs, who had been appointed by President Trump, made this statement and was subsequently fired by Trump for doing so. Attorney General William Barr, also a Trump appointee, stated publicly in December 2020 that the Department of Justice had not found evidence of fraud on a scale that could have changed the outcome of the election.

Georgia, a closely contested state, conducted a full hand recount of nearly 5 million ballots, a process that involved physically re-examining every paper ballot cast, and this recount confirmed President Biden's margin of victory in the state. Arizona's Maricopa County underwent multiple audits, including a Republican-commissioned review conducted by the firm Cyber Ninjas specifically to investigate fraud claims, which ultimately confirmed Biden's win in the county rather than finding evidence to overturn it. A joint 2021 report by the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security found no evidence that any foreign government had interfered with vote tallies or election infrastructure.

A rigorous 2021 statistical analysis published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a leading peer-reviewed scientific journal, systematically examined every major statistical claim of fraud circulated after the election and found that each claim was either fully consistent with the normal statistical patterns expected in a free and fair election or was based on identifiable analytical errors in the claimant's methodology. Individual, isolated cases of voter fraud in the 2020 election were identified and prosecuted, including a small number involving Republican voters, but election security officials and prosecutors from both parties have confirmed these isolated cases were far too limited in number and geographic scope to have changed the outcome of any race at any level, from local contests up through the presidential election itself. The persistence of belief in widespread 2020 election fraud despite this consistent evidentiary record across courts, audits, and both Democratic and Republican-led investigations illustrates how a claim can continue to circulate through partisan media ecosystems and social platforms long after every formal, evidence-based review process available in the American legal and administrative system has examined and rejected it.

Common claims

  • Dominion voting machines changed votes from Trump to Biden.False, no evidence found by courts, audits, or intelligence agencies; Dominion successfully litigated defamation claims against prominent promoters of this claim.
  • Statistical anomalies prove fraud in key states.False, PNAS peer-reviewed analysis found every claimed anomaly either reflected normal electoral dynamics or was based on analytical errors.
  • Election officials certified fraudulent results.False, Republican secretaries of state in Arizona and Georgia certified results and defended their integrity.
  • Courts refused to examine the evidence.False, more than 60 courts examined claims and dismissed them for lack of credible evidence.

Evidence hierarchy

01No Evidence for Systematic Voter Fraud (PNAS)Peer-reviewed statistical analysis of all major statistical fraud claims; every claim either was consistent with a fair election or based on errors in the claimant's analysis.02CISA Joint Statement: 2020 Election Was the Most Secure in American HistoryOfficial statement by CISA, Election Infrastructure GCC, and SCC: no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.03DOJ-DHS Joint Report on Foreign Interference in 2020 ElectionsDepartment of Justice and DHS found claims of foreign government manipulation of election infrastructure not credible and no evidence of altered vote tallies.04Results of Lawsuits Regarding the 2020 ElectionsCampaign Legal Center compilation of court rulings dismissing 60+ post-election fraud lawsuits, with detailed summaries of each ruling.05Beware of Novel Claims of 2020 Election FraudBrennan Center analysis documenting that Georgia's full hand recount, Arizona's Cyber Ninjas audit, and intelligence community assessments all confirmed election integrity.

All sources

Related terms

Mail-in voting is riggedSoros pays protestersQAnon conspiracy movement