[JURIST] The US Election Assistance Commission [official website] has found little evidence to support claims of voter fraud [status report, PDF] that have been driving the recent push for more stringent voter registration and voter ID policies [JURIST report], USA Today reported Wednesday. The report, released in May but just made public Wednesday, evaluated claims of fraud and voter intimidation and concluded:

There is widespread but not unanimous agreement that there is little polling place fraud, or at least much less than is claimed, including voter impersonation, "dead" voters, noncitizen voting and felon voters. Those few who believe it occurs often enough to be a concern say that is impossible to show the extent to which it happens, but do point to instance in the press of such incidents. Most people believe that false registration forms have not resulted in polling place fraud, although it may create the perception that vote fraud is possible. ...

Abuse of challenger laws and abusive challengers seem to be the biggest intimidation/suppression concerns, and many of those interviewed assert that the new identification requirements are the modern version of voter intimidation and suppression.