Election interference generally refers to efforts to change the outcome of an election, especially by illegitimate means. Kinds of election interference may include:
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Electoral fraud
Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...
, illegal interference with the process of an election
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Vote buying
Vote buying (also referred to as electoral clientelism and patronage politics) occurs when a political party or candidate distributes money or resources to a voter in an upcoming election with the expectation that the voter votes for the actor h ...
, when a political party or candidate distributes money to a voter with the expectation that they will vote for them
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Voter impersonation, when an eligible voter votes more than once or a non-eligible voter votes under the name of an eligible one
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Foreign electoral intervention
Foreign electoral interventions (FEI) are attempts by a government to influence the elections of another country. Common methods include backing a preferred party or candidate, harming the electoral chances of another party or candidate, elevati ...
, attempts by governments to influence elections in another country
* Illegal
electioneering
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...
, 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
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Election audit An election audit is any review conducted after polls close for the purpose of determining whether the votes were counted accurately (a ''results audit'') or whether proper procedures were followed (a ''process audit''), or both.
Both results and p ...
, a review conducted to determine whether votes were counted accurately or whether proper procedures were followed
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Election security
Election cybersecurity or election security refers to the protection of elections and voting infrastructure from cyberattack or cyber threat – including the tampering with or infiltration of voting machines and equipment, election office networ ...
, the protection of elections and voting infrastructure from cyberattack or cyber threat
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Election subversion
Election subversion can involve a range of measures to change the outcome of a vote, including voter suppression, election denial, disinformation, intimidation and other legal or illegal attempts to not count or disqualify certain votes.
United ...
, changing the result of a legitimate election outcome
References
{{SIA
Elections
Democracy
Electoral fraud
Political campaign techniques
Voter suppression