Drawing on Political Twitter’s seething hatred of all things 2016, users began theorizing on Wednesday what an election might look like if the media decided to rig it.
If they—or should I say we—haven’t already!
https://twitter.com/Jenn_Abrams/status/788772398929702912
https://twitter.com/America_1st_/status/788818362952540160
To the disappointment of the political establishment, not to mention citizens supportive of the American democratic system, flaws and all, Donald Trump seems to be preparing his campaign’s obituary in advance by essentially trashing it: When and if Trump loses, as the polls predict, he will apparently call foul play and generate new attacks to denigrate the U.S. presidential election process.
https://twitter.com/America_1st_/status/788806756742889474
Seeds of distrust have already been sown this year after the leaking of hacked emails that paint, in many eyes, the Democratic party as an outfit determined to game primary voters and disparage competition when a seemingly anointed candidate arises, e.g., Hillary Clinton.
But the overwhelming attention to party politics is like a tree concealing the public’s view of the forest: One might consider the real fraud to be the duopoly of American politics, which makes for great television, but limits conversations to the platforms decided by a political elite. Take climate change—the “mother of all risks” to national security, as one Time writer called it—an issue that has received no attention thus far in the debates, while the personal scandals of two individuals have taken center stage.
An election process saturated with the cash of billionaire donors and special interest groups is a fraud; it’s difficult to find someone to argue otherwise, unless that person happens to be a billionaire or lobbyist.
Fraud perpetrated by actual voters on a national scale, to the extent that even exists, mathematically has no impact on the integrity of the vote, according to numerous experts, who argue instead that attempts by conservative politicians to subdue through legal means “widespread voter fraud” is at the very least overkill—and at most an overt attempt to disenfranchise religious, ethnic, and racial minority voting blocs.
With all this talk of fraud, it is a wonder, then, that gerrymandering, a tried and true method for the manipulation of votes, receives little or no attention in this contentious election season.
https://twitter.com/bennydiego/status/788767074977931264
