Election interference

Election interference generally refers to efforts to change the outcome of an election, especially by illegitimate means. Kinds of election interference may include:

• Electoral fraud, illegal interference with the process of an election
• Vote buying, when a political party or candidate distributes money to a voter with the expectation that they will vote for them
• Voter impersonation, when an eligible voter votes more than once or a non-eligible voter votes under the name of an eligible one
• Foreign electoral intervention, attempts by governments to influence elections in another country:
• Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
• Chinese government interference in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian federal elections
• Russian interference in the 2020 United States elections
• Russian interference in the 2024 United States elections
• American interference in 81 elections in at least 19 different countries between 1946-2000.
• Illegal electioneering, such as campaigning or wearing political apparel too close to a polling place
• Recruiting candidates with identical or similar names to an existing one, intended to confuse voters
• Where prohibited, the use of public funds to persuade voters to vote in a certain way

See also

• List of foreign electoral interventions
• Election audit, a review conducted to determine whether votes were counted accurately or whether proper procedures were followed
• Election denial, the baseless rejection of election results
• Election security, the protection of elections and voting infrastructure from cyberattack or cyber threat
• Election subversion, changing the result of a legitimate election outcome
• Lawfare

References