Troubling research reveals how many Americans will commit vote fraud to get their candidate elected

Most studies into US election fraud conclude it is very rare.

But research this week questions whether we can rest assured that the results on November 5 can be trusted.

A survey by the Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank, found that nearly a third of voters would cheat to get their preferred candidate over the line.

Their survey of 1,467 voters took an unusual approach.

They presented respondents with various types of dodgy voting, and asked them if they would consider bending the rules themselves.

Nearly a third of voters would consider some kind of trickery to get their candidate over the line 

A voter exits after casting their ballot in the Georgia primary election at Park Tavern precinct in Atlanta, Georgia

They were asked if they might vote in multiple states, destroy or alter mail-in ballots of friends or family, or pay a fellow voter a few bucks to tick a box.

They were also asked if they'd give another voter false information about where, when and how to cast their ballot.

Only a small proportion of voters said they would consider cheating in each scenario.

But, added together, they found that more than a fourth of voters would consider some type of fraud.

'Overall, 28 percent of all respondents stated that they would resort to at least one form of election fraud if it helped propel their preferred candidate in office,' said researcher Jack McPherrin.

'Doing the math, that means that — if voter turnout remains similar to 2020 — nearly 45 million ballots may be fraudulently cast if they are not prevented.'

Dodgy voting could be higher than in the past because 2024 is such a high-stakes election, researchers said.

The Republican front-runner Donald Trump says only his victory can halt America's collapse, while President Joe Biden says democracy will unravel unless he keeps the White House.

Still, there was little difference in the likelihood of cheating between supporters of the two main candidates.

Former president Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson last week questioned the integrity of America's vote in a joint appearance at Mar-a-Lago

A voter works on her ballot at one of the booths at Sioux Falls School District in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Fully 27 percent of Biden supporters said they'd consider ballot trickery, compared to 29 percent of Trump backers.

Men were slightly more likely to say they'd cheat than women.

Black and Hispanic voters said they would commit vote fraud at higher rates than did whites.

But the most cheating-prone group is young people, the survey revealed.

Fully 52 percent of adults aged 18-39 would bend the rules to get their preferred candidate over the line.

That's much higher than the 15 percent of those aged 65 and above who would cheat.

The survey comes 29 weeks before an election in which election integrity is frequently cited as a concern.

Former president Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson last week questioned the integrity of America's vote in a joint appearance at Mar-a-Lago that focussed on immigration and other hot topics.

Johnson said that 'there are so many millions of illegals in the country' that even if a fraction were able to vote, they could swing the election.

Trump has said the 2020 election he lost to Biden was rigged, and that 2024 could go the same way.

He's been indicted for trying to overturn the results of his 2020 defeat in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud in Nevada in 2020 were rebuffed this week by state officials.

A poll worker waits to hand out stickers as Americans cast their votes

The office of Nevada's Secretary of State announced in a new report that there was 'no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Nevada' in recent years.

Researchers say the concerns of voter fraud raised by Trump and Johnson are overblown.

Critics say Trump is just paving the way to call foul if he loses again in November. 

The Center for Election Innovation & Research, a think tank, says undocumented migrants almost never vote illegally in the US.

The left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice says voter fraud almost never happens.

'Extensive research reveals that fraud is very rare, voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent, and many instances of alleged fraud are, in fact, mistakes by voters or administrators,' the group said in a 2022 report.

Still, Haskins says his survey shows that election officials need to impose 'common-sense election rules.'

Mississippi, Missouri, and Oklahoma already make voters sign mail-in ballots in front of a notary — this should be a nationwide norm, he added.

'If state lawmakers do not succeed in getting better election integrity laws in place, Americans will cheat in the 2024 presidential election,' he said.

'How do I know? Because they are openly admitting it.'