When the candidate they supported loses, some percentage of that candidate’s most avid supporters will suspect–or even allege–a conspiracy to “steal” the election. Before Trump, those allegations used to be limited to fringe folks and sore losers. (They’re still voiced by sore losers…Trump being a prime example.) Most of us properly consider these recurring accusations of electoral impropriety as one common type of conspiracy theory. Eminently dismissable.
So I was stunned to read about a lawsuit in New York, where “electoral impropriety” would be a kind word, at least if the facts are as the local news media have reported.
A seminal case questioning the accuracy of the 2024 Presidential and Senate election results in Rockland County, New York, is moving forward. In open court last Thursday, Judge Rachel Tanguay of the New York Supreme Court, ruled that discovery must proceed, pushing the lawsuit brought by SMART Legislation into the evidence-gathering stage. The lawsuit seeks a full hand recount of the Presidential and U.S. Senate races in Rockland County.
The Court has now ordered that hand count, in an effort to explain the statistical anomalies.
As stated in the complaint, more voters have sworn they voted for independent U.S. Senate candidate Diane Sare than the Rockland County Board of Elections counted and certified, directly contradicting those results. Additionally, the presidential election results exhibit numerous statistical anomalies. The anomalies in the presidential race include multiple districts where hundreds of voters chose the Democratic candidate Kirsten Gillibrand for Senate, but where zero voters selected the Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Additionally, a statistician determined that the 2024 presidential election results were statistically highly unlikely in four of the five towns in Rockland County when compared with 2020 results.
It certainly appears that Rockland County experienced “irregularities,. Granted, it is highly improbable that those same irregularities were widespread enough to throw the national election to Trump (although a finding that he did, in fact, “steal” the election would certainly improve my opinion of the electorate…) While it might be technically possible to interfere with a presidential election, successfully altering the national outcome would require the thief to overcome overwhelming legal, logistical, and security barriers. The states, after all, are in charge of administering these elections–the decentralized nature of the nation’s federal elections would make large-scale manipulation incredibly difficult.
Would it be impossible?
At risk of descending into a Pillow Man degree of insanity, I keep thinking about Elon Musk’s complaint that Trump is insufficiently grateful to him for Musk’s help in getting him elected. The media (undoubtedly correctly) attributed that help to the many millions of dollars Musk donated to Trump’s campaign. But what if Musk’s techie bros figured out a way to overcome those legal, logistical and security barriers?
What if some proportion of that huge number of “no shows”–the millions of missing voters– actually did cast ballots, but those ballots disappeared?
What if it turned out that the madman currently desecrating the Oval Office stole the election?
Let me be clear: much as I’d like to believe that, I don’t. But just by indulging in that bit of conspiratorial daydreaming, we can see how much damage such suspicions can do to the civic trust that democracy demands. Trump’s accusations–and his cult’s acceptance of them–didn’t just trigger the insurrection on January 6th. It poisoned large parts of the body politic, sowing a distrust that has affected and damaged virtually every aspect of American political life.
If and when the U.S. emerges from its current downward spiral, restoring that trust–in democracy, in science, in education, in accurate history–should be the first order of business. But restoration of trust won’t come from the sorts of people who currently occupy America’s public offices. And while I’d love to believe that We the People didn’t really elect some of these sleazy lunatics, we probably did.
Just not, apparently, in Rockland County…
All I know on this subject is that there is a reason we do exit polls, and there have always been anomalies in voting patterns. There have always been questions about voting machine tampering, particularly with the infamous “flip” voting machines. What about “hanging chads” or whatever they were?
We now have Artificial Intelligence, which is amazingly fast at processing and writing analysis. However, our local county computer systems are decades behind the times.
This all begs the question, “Why do we insist on using ancient software (decades old) when we have the highest tech on the globe?”
I recall when I told one of the party heads in Delaware County that I wanted to run for County Treasurer so I could modernize the antiquated systems, and he just shook his head, as if I were a naive fool. He was also a computer programmer. I also found that one big donor to the Democratic Party paid zero property taxes on his commercial office building. How much of this graft is built into the local system?
When one department needs to share data with another, they print out the data on their screens and hand the hard copy to the other department, which manually inputs those figures on their computer. Needless to say, there are lots of human errors.
Additionally, it appears that the Voter/Election Board always comprises the shadiest characters from each political party. Insiders who are sworn to allegiance to the party.
I have never trusted the accounting and election process in our county or that of any other in Indiana.
I represented petitioners in 2 original actions before scotus in 2017 seeking to nullify the results of 2016. What was done in 2024 was far more sophisticated. trump had fewer votes both times. This time they played more with numbers from precinct solidly red. Both were rigged. Elections will not be held in 2026 if trump stays in office
Despite Trump’s efforts to restore American history to the pre-60s, and crony capitalism to its good old days long before, human progress will not be denied. We never know what the future will hold, but we do know that our current path would render our species unsustainable for its current population.
My current sense is that not just here but everywhere, significant changes are just around the corner. Climate change, AI, wealth and population concentration, and the increasing number of people leaving formal religion, as well as our slavish devotion to accumulating too much stuff, are certainly forces at work globally.
Like all good books, the one of life compels our curiosity about what the next word, paragraph, and follow-on book will be.
I agree with Pete that all this is leading to radical change. Trump is just accelerating the process. I just learned of a book called, The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy,” which many people follow and claim we are at the last stage called “CRISIS.” We’ve been there many times. Life is cyclical.
From my AI analysis of the book:
“The Crisis (Fourth Turning):
Characterized by: This is the most intense and dangerous period of the cycle. It’s a time of major societal upheaval, often involving a significant external threat, economic collapse, or internal conflict that forces a societal reckoning. Old institutions are destroyed or radically remade, and a new order emerges. It’s a time of great risk but also great opportunity for fundamental change. A new consensus is forged out of necessity.”
Todd, yes. I sense the same accumulation of tension in the human condition as that from reading pre-WW II history. Today is our “1938” with Hitler ascendant and grabbing territory beyond his means. Meanwhile, the whole world trembled. Japan had invaded China 6 years prior, but that usually doesn’t register with most of us.
When Hitler invaded Poland – under the usual false pretenses of a dictator – the tension burst into all-out world war. With Israel’s pre-empted attack on Iran, the skin of today’s bubble is being stretched thin.
In this vein, I spoke with a Canadian friend yesterday who told me that Canadians are generally horrified at having a Trump-led dictatorship on their doorstep. Feel the tension? It’s everywhere.
I’m going to our “No Kings” rally in Denver today. It’s going to be 93 degrees, and I fear that violence will occur. With over 2,000 planned demonstrations across the country, something good and something horrific will occur somewhere. I hope it isn’t here.
What’s truly disturbing is the fact that we need to do this … all because millions of ignorant, racist, hateful Americans voted for this monstrosity. Well, we’re about to reap the whirlwind. And those 82 million non-voters … will they be in the streets today, or will they be huddled in their basements denying that they erred?
people in passing ask me,
how ya doin? reply:
like another day in paradise,,,,,,,, then i woke up,,,
i will be at the NoDak state capital to kick a king to the curb..
“What if some proportion of that huge number of “no shows”–the millions of missing voters– actually did cast ballots, but those ballots disappeared?”
The liars always lie the loudest, the longest and lie the most questionable lies such as “Stop the Steal” which has not yet ended for some of the die-hard Republicans. I was living in Florida in 2000 when the Bush/Gore presidential recount was done under the administration of Gov. Jeb Bush; George W’s baby brother, that should have been questionable to start with. Purged as dead were living people, felons who hadn’t been arrested who came forward and the biggest purge was the locked closet full of boxes of mail-in ballots which arrived before the election which were declared “not to have arrived in time to be counted”. News reports were leaning toward Gore but we all know the outcome of that election.
The current destruction of governmental safeguards carried out by qualified government elected and appointed officials whose removal was decided by an immigrant South African who has the most money of Trump’s sitting billionaire trifecta on the inaugural stage, moved indoors out of the public eyes. The poor Pillow Man lost out early in the battle for a seat center stage.
The disturbance of the loss of democracy, rule of Law, support of our constitution is “Disturbing…” to say the least. Taxation without representation is back in charge and we have no sign of a Tea Party to empty the White House of those bailing out everything America has stood for for 250 years.
“What if it turned out that the madman currently desecrating the Oval Office stole the election?”
What if he did; who is going to call him out? He will showcase his military power in his birthday parade to prove he won while the armed U.S. Marines he ordered into California will be “keeping the peace” under military force with our courts supporting his action.
There were some significant problems in Hendricks County last fall, but Tiffany Stoner declined to challenge the results.
I’ve been a Boone County poll worker (and recommend that all who can, should volunteer for even a day!), and find it difficult to imagine how voting machines could be manipulated. While many people, especially in Indiana, vote a straight ticket, there are those who split their ticket (look at 2020, when many Republicans down ticket won, yet Biden had the top spot).
Going to the Lugano Plaza to protest…how can we not?
If my grands should ever ask me: “What have you learned after your years of adulthood?” One sure answer is: “Most of those in leadership roles, whether elected or not, more often than not love money and power and use their work for the benefit of themselves or their beliefs, not the common good or their constituents.”.
As you all know, I’ve been suspecting vote changes all along. The satellite link that Musk set up means his servers got all of the votes and could manipulate them from there. As a former IT professional, I have seen how malware infects a network and how cyber criminals work. I haven’t worked in 20 years but trust me, they can do a lot of damage with no visibility to the common man. I will never believe the results of the 2024 election and everyday another politician is killed for their work, I will stand with democracy. Unfortunately, I tested positive again this morning for covid so I can’t attend. Please go on my behalf. Thanks.
Why are exit polls different from the count (besides sampling error)? Because folks like Joany Baloney, for whatever reason, do not want their friends to know that they voted for Jack Sprat instead of Jill Sprill.
The No Kings rally in Ft Myers was a surprise. The past couple of months rallies have been held well south of the center of commerce here. Today, it was held at the intersection of US41and Daniels Parkway, one of the busiest intersections in the county. The line of protesters was long, covering both sides of 41on both sides of Daniels. I’m guessing close to a thousand people. Additionally, about 85% of the cars passing by were honking in support. I was sitting in my chair yelling Vote! Vote! Vote! The message we all need hear.
AgingL Girl, most voting machines are generally on closed networks – ! on an intranet, not the internet – suggesting that any manipulation would have to be an inside job. That would be easy to track as well.
I am as averse to conspiracy theory thinking as you are. Yet the relevant parties made claims and spoke in ways that mean the possibility should be investigated when evidence points in that direction. This makes me think that there may be more worth looking into: https://substack.com/home/post/p-165658733