In the wake of the alleged election rigging scandal in 2020, voting irregularities have come under heightened scrutiny from watchdogs and political activists across the US.
Former President Donald Trump still maintains that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and many conservatives agree with him.
A July survey by CNN indicated that a whopping 69 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaners still believe that Joe Biden's victory was not legitimate. Meanwhile, a study conducted by Rasmussen Reports in mid-November showed that 56 percent of likely US voters believe cheating is likely to affect the results of the 2024 presidential election. Just 37 percent of respondents said that cheating is unlikely.
However, the Brookings Institution continues to insist that "widespread election fraud claims by Republicans do not match the evidence."
So, do elections irregularities and fraud happen in the US? Judging by 2023 court rulings they not only happen but can be legally overturned.
According Just the News, three cases from the 2023 elections and one case from 2022 were overturned by courts over voting irregularities and fraud. In most of those races a new ballot was ordered.
Earlier this week a Louisiana judge cancelled the results of the Caddo Parish sheriff's election after illegal votes were discovered.
But Nickelson did not give up and filed a lawsuit, claiming that illegal votes were cast. That court case unearthed 11 illegal votes: two people who voted twice; at least five absentee ballots which did not comply with the law and four votes cast by people not entitled to vote. A new election was scheduled for March 23, 2024.
In November, a judge overturned the results of the Democrat mayoral primary in Bridgeport, Connecticut, after a video allegedly featuring a supporter of incumbent Democrat Mayor Joe Ganim placing stacks of papers into a ballot drop box emerged online.
The judge determined that allegations of absentee ballot abuse were sufficient to annul the election, especially given that Ganim won by a razor-thin margin constituted mostly by absentee ballots. A new primary was scheduled for January 23, 2024, which could lead to new mayoral election on February 22.
Also in November, a Texan appeal court approved a lower court ruling from February, which changed the outcome of the 2022 District II Laredo City Council election by naming Ricardo Rangel Jr. as the winner instead of Daisy Campos Rodriguez.
Earlier, the Texas district court determined that Campos-Rodriguez – who won by a margin of just six votes – got at least 11 votes which were cast illegally in the November 2022 general election. Campos-Rodriguez was ordered to step down.
In September, a court judge in Wisconsin overturned the April results of a town board election. The contenders, John MacLean and Lorine Walters, battled over another one-vote margin. MacLean filed a lawsuit over suspicious ballots, and the judge found that two votes had been illegally cast. In a new election on November 14, MacLean beat Walters by 29 votes.
The cases show that the battle over voter integrity sometimes bears fruit — and that being scrupulous does mean being an "election denier".