The Electoral Integrity Project Proves Trump’s Right About Election Integrity – Top 3 Takeaways – July 17th, 2026
Takeaway #1: Declassified
President Trump’s speech addressing election integrity Thursday night brought about a few critical points. 1) The claims expressed by Trump weren’t his...they were the claims of US intelligence agencies, and the declassified documents are at WhiteHouse.gov to view 2) According to the President’s accounting of the intelligence collected, China stole personal information of approximately 60% of the country – including in-depth information potentially including Social Security numbers in 18 states. 3) China’s alleged election interference campaign and stolen data was hidden by government officials from him, while president – in addition to you. Kind of big details. But speaking specifically of election integrity... By the numbers... Since 1982, or over the prior 43 years, there have been 1,620 criminal convictions for voter fraud within the United States. That’s an average of 38 criminal convictions for voter fraud per year – not just per election cycle. And keep in mind those are only the cases that are detected, that are prosecuted, and that lead to criminal convictions. This is to say, as I’ve long illustrated and said, the question is never if there’s voter fraud. There’s been criminally prosecuted voter fraud in literally every federal election cycle in American history. The question is always whether the voter fraud is sufficient to overturn election results. Almost always the answer is no. However, for example, over the prior 30 years there have been a total of at least 21 elections overturned due to criminal convictions for voter fraud including one in Florida. It was just over a month ago I provided you with the annual election integrity company the U.S. now keeps. As mentioned... What five countries would you want to keep in the context of election integrity to keep? While you think about that... Here are five countries... Niger, Senegal, Tunisia, Bolivia, Mexico. What countries are those? The countries that are closest to us in election integrity most recently. In the annual worldwide Electoral Integrity Project, which Harvard has historically played a significant role in aggregating, what we’ve seen is that the United States has reached a historical low in election integrity since the onset of this annual project in 2012. On a 1-100 point system –
Takeaway #2: The United States scores a 54!
Yes, it’s a failing grade that’s the same as Niger, Senegal, Tunisia and Bolivia and one point better than Mexico. Perhaps the most remarkable thing is that U.S. election integrity has actually been backtracking. In the previous Electoral Integrity Project the U.S. had scored a 71, it’s due to states like California that have intentionally introduced few checks in balances into the process – that he United States now has record low election integrity. What this illustrates is that more than ever before we need minimum federal standards like the SAVE Act passed. California’s current elections might be free and fair, but without transparency in the process, and with third-world ranking integrity measures in place – there's statistically a greater possibility that Haiti’s next elections will be more trustworthy. Florida is the third largest state in the country. Approximately an hour from the polls being closed, we know the results of every race save the curing of provisional ballots, and a smattering of signature reconciliation on vote by mail ballots. We also have paper ballot backups for every ballot cast for recounts as well. California and every state could do this too. It’s a choice not to. And the important question is why that choice is made. We didn’t used to be that way. It was a choice for the allowance for potential shenanigans in places like Broward and Palm Beach County. What we fixed in Florida has been introduced on steroids in places like California, with the net effect producing far lower overall election integrity standards than what our country had before.
Takeaway #3: President Trump is right to make this issue a cornerstone issue putting maximum pressure on Congress to pass the SAVE Act.
On Monday I asked Senator Rick Scott if perhaps the tragic death of Lindsey Grahman could provide a catalyst for this passage of it. We’ve seen prominent deaths result in momentum for key political causes before. It was Senator Ted Kennedy’s death that played a pivotal role in gaining momentum for Obamacare to pass. Perhaps President Trump’s demonstration of our country’s many vulnerabilities on an issue, at least pertaining on mandatory ID and proof of citizenship, that’s 80-20, and the untimely passing of Lindsey will get it done. It’s time. There are two sides to stories and one side to facts. These are the facts.