Dead Last. How the U.S. Voting System Compares with 36 Other Countries

17 risk areas assessed and compared

By Kristine Christlieb, MFEI News & Commentary Editor

September 2, 2025

A Chicago-based forum of business and government sector experts is releasing a 37-nation study that finds the United States has the worst election integrity procedures in the world.

In a written statement, Gary Meyers, the report’s project director and one of its authors, said: “The U.S. has the worst voting system of the countries studied. In terms of written procedures, the U.S. and Germany come in significantly behind Kenya, Mexico, Chile, Ghana, Italy, and Rwanda.”

The Meyers Group, a 43-year-old association of national and international subject matter experts, looked at 17 areas of voting system risk. The study identified the risk areas based on risk management principles derived from sources like the National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Election Assistance Commission guidelines, and election integrity groups.

The risk assessment was performed on 36 countries plus the U.S. and all 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia (D.C.). The 36 nations and 50 states plus D.C. were graded on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the best possible score.

The average U.S. state score was 60 which puts the U.S. far behind the average score of 81 for all the other countries studied. The study calls any score below 64 a “fail.”

In the U.S., the top scoring states are Mississippi (83), Arkansas (78), Kentucky (78), Indiana (76), and Connecticut (73).  The bottom states are Nevada (30), Illinois (36), D.C. (36), Vermont (37), and California (38).

In the same press statement, Jay DeLancy, a coauthor of the study and founder of Voter Integrity Project-NC, said, “The U.S. is supposed to be the shining beacon on the hill for democracy, yet we are the only country surveyed that relies heavily upon the honor system.” The study specifies voter identification and proof of citizenship as areas made vulnerable by the honor system.

Meyers, founder of the The Meyers Group, used his statement to point out other areas of concern. “The issues of weakness are mail-in ballots, touch-screen voting machines, and a lack of voter ID. The touch screens do not have hard paper ballots for recounts and audits.”

According to Google AI Overview, as of late 2024, paper ballots are becoming the norm in most states.

“The shift to paper ballots is evidence touch-screen voting machines are almost universally acknowledged to be an election integrity risk factor,” said Michigan Fair Elections Institute Founder and Chair Patrice Johnson. “Our understanding of election vulnerabilities is evolving all the time. Mail-in ballots are another example. Expansion of voting by mail may have seemed like a good idea at the time but is now being re-evaluated.”

On Saturday, President Trump posted a comment on Truth Social directly addressing election vulnerabilities, saying: “Voter I.D. Must Be Part of Every Single Vote. NO EXCEPTIONS! I Will Be Doing An Executive Order To That End!!! Also, No Mail-In Voting, Except For Those That Are Very Ill, And The Far Away Military. USE PAPER BALLOTS ONLY!!! President DJT.

How about Michigan?

Based on the chart below, Michigan receives a score of 50 out of 100. This is below the U.S. state average of 60.04, the median of 63, and the other countries’ average of 81.39. That puts Michigan in the lower tier of U.S. states, indicating higher perceived risk in its election rules according to the report’s criteria.

The report is suggesting low-scoring states, like Michigan, may have rules that, intentionally or not, allow for potential manipulation.

“Greater participation in elections is a good thing. We want more eligible voters to mark their ballots, but accessibility can’t be allowed to overwhelm the need for voting safeguards,” said Johnson.

A well-known election slogan, “easy to vote, hard to cheat,” is often invoked. This report could help legislators balance making voting easy with preventing the potential for fraud.

The Meyers Group plans to follow up this study of procedures with a study of how well election laws are carried out.

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