Election Fraud: Detecting and Deterring Electoral Manipulation

Countries around the world—even long-established democracies—grapple with the fundamental issue of guaranteeing that their elections are fair and competitive. Recent events ranging from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Indiana’s voter identification law to the turmoil that has resulted from Zimbabwe’s recent presidential contest only confirm that fact. Drawing on social science research from the U.S. and abroad, Election Fraud: Detecting and Deterring Electoral Manipulation (Brookings, 2008), explores ways to define, measure and detect fraud, and makes recommendations for reform.

On May 21, the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project hosted a discussion with the book’s editors, R. Michael Alvarez of Caltech, Thad Hall of the University of Utah and Susan Hyde of Yale University. Thomas Mann, co-director of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project and senior fellow at Brookings, moderated the panel.

After the program, panelists took audience questions.