Rigging The Election

Oct. 28, 2016

Donald Trump says this election is being rigged by the Democrats, the media and unnamed "global elites." He says he won’t necessarily accept the election results in the event that he loses.

Let’s take a look at the likelihood of such a conspiracy.

The notion that Democrats are capable of rigging an election is, on the face of it, laughable. They haven’t organized anything much beyond fundraising events for decades.

The last time they tried to rig an election was 35 years ago, in Illinois, where the remnants of the old Richard Daley political machine stuffed ballot boxes and cast fraudulent votes in an attempt to elect Adlai Stevenson III as governor. Democrats lost the election anyway, got caught, and a couple dozen folks went to jail or prison.

Even assuming they wanted to give it another shot, the numbers aren’t exactly in their favor, given that elections are controlled at the state and local levels.

Let’s take a look at how those numbers stack up for our Democratic conspirators.

In the United States, there are 3,007 counties, 64 parishes, 11 census areas, and 41 independent cities that control their own elections.

More than 60 percent of those with partisan elected officials are controlled by Republicans.

States enact the laws under which elections are held and under which local governments implement control. The numbers are even worse for Democrats at the state level.

In 38 states, the Secretary of State is the chief elections officer; 25 are Republicans.

A whopping 31 states now have Republican governors, and only 18 have Democrats. (Alaska’s governor is an independent.) There are 98 partisan legislative bodies, 49 state houses of representatives and 49 state senates. (Nebraska holds non-partisan legislative elections and has only one legislative body.) Of those 98, 68 are controlled by Republicans.

The GOP controls the house, senate and governor’s office in 24 states, and the Democrats have similar control in just seven.

All of which might suggest even Democrats with evil intent are going to find it difficult to pull off their conspiratorial election rigging.

Then there’s the media. Is Trump kidding?

The media created Trump, fawning over him for decades. They ignored his various shenanigans because he was a private citizen, and the blustering alpha male billionaire always made for great copy.

The media didn’t focus on particular candidates during the Republican primaries, choosing to let the 17 candidates fight it out among themselves. But Trump received the most coverage and exploited it smartly, spending little on paid advertising and instead relying on free media.

Once he became the nominee he received more focused attention. His outrageous statements and questionable business practices were reported in detail. His racism, xenophobia and misogyny bubbled to the surface, not as part of some conspiracy but because he actually said things that were racist, xenophobic and misogynistic.

He loved the media as long as he could use them to his advantage. When that stopped, he accused them of bias and a conspiracy.

As for the "global elites," it’s an open question whom they might be and why they would conspire against Trump. There is no Trilateral Commission or Illuminati out to get him.

Trump isn’t quite ready to say he will accept the election results if he loses. It doesn’t matter one bit whether he does or not. The outcome of a national election doesn’t hinge on the reaction of the loser. Nor does it matter if he concedes.

If any results are razor thin, there are 20 states (and the District of Columbia) with automatic recount triggers based on state law. In Michigan, for example, if a statewide election is decided by 2,000 votes or fewer (excepting board of regent contests) there is an automatic recount. In some states the trigger is 0.5 percent or 0.1 percent of the vote. In most other states, candidates or party representatives can request a recount.

In the end, the ballots will be counted, they will be validated – usually by a Board of Canvassers at the county level – and the state will certify the results. Members of the electoral college, whom we elect when we vote for president, will then meet and cast their votes according to the outcomes in their state. It’s a winner-take-all process in every state but Nebraska and Maine, which both award electors proportionately, based on the popular vote statewide and in congressional districts.

What’s sad here, and destructive, is Trump’s seeming ability to convince his supporters the elections can be rigged. In fact, the county officials responsible are serious about protecting the integrity of elections and work extremely hard to make sure they are fair, honest and accurate.

Vote November 8 knowing your vote does count, will be fairly certified by honorable people, and that nobody is rigging anything.