Electoral fraud: causes, types, and consequences

This article reviews research on electoral fraud-clandestine and illegal efforts to shape election results. Only a handful of works classify reports on electoral fraud to identify its nature, magnitude, and causes. This review therefore looks at the larger number of historical works (as well as some...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAnnual review of political science Vol. 6; pp. 233 - 256
Main Author Lehoucq, Fabrice
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.01.2003
Subjects
Competitiveness
Corruption
Elections
Electoral fraud
Electoral law
Electoral results
Electoral Systems
Fraud
Political science
Political stability
Violence
Votes
Voting Behavior
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Summary:This article reviews research on electoral fraud-clandestine and illegal efforts to shape election results. Only a handful of works classify reports on electoral fraud to identify its nature, magnitude, and causes. This review therefore looks at the larger number of historical works (as well as some ethnographies and surveys) that discuss ballot rigging. Its conclusions are threefold. First, fraud takes on a panoply of forms; it ranges from procedural violations of electoral law (that may or may not intend to distort results) to the outright use of violence against voters. Second, even when ballot rigging is an integral part of electoral competition, it is infrequently decisive. Fraud, nevertheless, undermines political stability because, in close races, it can be crucial. Third, political competition shapes the rhythm and nature of electoral fraud. Efforts to steal elections increase with inequality, but competitiveness-which institutions help to shape-determines the ballot-rigging strategies parties adopt. Reprinted by permission of Annual Reviews
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ISSN:1094-2939
DOI:10.1146/annurev.polisci.6.121901.085655