Last Updated on November 5, 2024
A democracy can only function when the electorate believes their votes will be counted accurately and fairly. To maintain the system’s integrity, voter and election fraud must be prevented, so California has instituted strong laws and punishments to prevent these crimes. If you have been accused of any crime related to interfering with an election, call a criminal defense attorney as soon as possible.
What’s the Difference Between Voter and Election Fraud?
While these two terms are frequently used interchangeably, there is a distinction between voter fraud and election fraud. Specifically:
- Voter fraud is committed by an individual who fraudulently casts one or more votes.
- Election fraud is typically performed by those with more power than the average person to influence the outcome of an election, such as poll workers or politicians.
As such, because it threatens the integrity of the entire election, election fraud is a more serious offense.
How Common is Voter Fraud?
Despite some conservatives’ claims to the contrary, fraud is relatively uncommon in elections throughout the entire country, whether the votes are cast using in-person voting machines or mail-in ballots. However, while there are certainly nowhere near “millions of examples of voter fraud in California alone” as some Republican pundits have claimed, it is also wrong to claim it doesn’t happen at all, as some liberals have. There are a handful of convictions related to electoral fraud every year.
Studies have shown that most purported voter fraud cases are the result of nothing more than negligence or defective (but not voting machines that have been tampered with) voting machines. The actual incidence of voting fraud is between 0.0003 and 0.0025 percent of all votes. It’s highly telling that when President Trump started a voting fraud commission in May of 2017, it disbanded by January 2018 after finding very little to investigate.
For those interested in learning more about the actual frequency of voter fraud, The Heritage tracks and reports on every example of this offense for every state of the union. You can search for examples by year, type of fraud, type of case, and state.
California State Election Code
California election code sections 18560 through 18578 (Elec) are focused on protecting the integrity of the state’s elections. Some of the most important sections criminalize:
- 18560 (Elec): Knowingly voting or attempting to vote when you are not entitled to do so, casting or trying to cast more than one vote, or impersonating or attempting to impersonate another person for voting purposes
- 18564 (Elec): Tampering with a voting machine or voting software or possessing a voting machine without authorization
- 18566 (Elec): Submitting forged election results
- 18567 (Elec): Illegally adding or subtracting votes or otherwise altering the returns
- 18568 (Elec): Illegally adding or removing ballots from a ballot container, stealing or destroying a ballot container, destroying or taking election returns, or removing ballots from a polling place before they are counted
- 18571 (Elec): Acting on a counting board and refusing to obey the instructions of a county’s elections official or their deputy
- 18533 (Elec): Tricking someone who cannot read their ballot into voting for someone else
- 18575 (Elec): Acting as an election officer without being legally appointed as such
- 18576 and 18577 (Elec): Interfering with or preventing the delivery of absentee voter ballots
- 18578 (Elec): Attempting to vote as an absentee voter using someone else’s name
These are far from the only crimes someone can do to wrongfully influence an election. Other illegal activities include:
- accepting or offering money for a vote
- threatening someone to vote for a particular person or issue
- trying to influence someone’s vote within 100 feet of a polling place
- bringing a gun to a polling place
- challenging a person’s right to vote without valid reason
Is Voter Fraud a Felony, and What are the Penalties?
Most attempts to illegally change the results of an election are wobbler offenses, meaning you could face either misdemeanor or felony charges. As a misdemeanor, these fraudulent acts are punishable by a year in county jail. A handful of these crimes, including 18571 and 18576 (Elec), are always charged as misdemeanors.
However, felony penalties will vary, with most offenses carrying a maximum sentence of either three or four years in state prison. For example, 18560, 18567, 18568, and 18578 (Elec) are punishable by up to three years in prison, while 18564 and 18566 (Elec) have a maximum sentence of four years. Ironically, those sentenced to a felony for attempting to rig elections cannot vote in any election until they have served their entire prison sentence and parole.
Many of these offenses can also result in other charges. For example, tampering with a voting machine (even without tampering with the ballots) could also open you up to cyber crime charges.
Remember that while most talk of voter fraud is simply a matter of politics, these offenses are real and carry severe penalties. If you have been accused of voter or election fraud, contact Peter M. Liss at (760) 643-4050 to schedule a free consultation.
