[EL] Can we say elections are stolen?

[Lisa Bryant]

Paul,

I don't know that it actually is a "*TRUE* statement", to say that "*it is
EASY for an election official or other person with access to electronic
voting machines to steal an election.*"  It would actually be a quite
complex task and require the cooperation of multiple actors to pull off.
Election officials do not work in a vacuum. Tallies are not updated in a
private office without anyone else around. If you have ever observed the
counts being tabulated at the end of the night or over days, you know that
this happens in groups with multiple participants. It's not as simple as
one person switching the numbers. If you believe they could program
tabulators to intentionally change the numbers, it also means that the
people programming the machines and checking the machines before they go
out to the various locations would have to be in on it. These are generally
not the same individuals in my experience of observing elections processes
and procedures over the past 14 years. Is it possible to get multiple
people to help carry it out? Probably. It is EASY? No.

Best,
Lisa Bryant


Lisa Bryant, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
Survey Director, Institute for Leadership and Public Policy
California State University, Fresno

On Fri, Jan 8, 2021 at 3:59 PM Paul Lehto <lehto.paul at gmail.com> wrote:

> Whether we can say elections are stolen can only be answered knowing the
> context and the evidence for a specific allegation.
>
> However, it is nevertheless a true statement that "*it is easy for an
> election official or other person with access to electronic voting machines
> to steal an election.*" A large number of video demonstrations can be
> found, some of which could be considered to be tutorials. Please advise if
> anyone wants links. This is why transparency is so critical.
>
> Here is an example of an electronic election reaching the wrong result
> because voting machine programming swapped the candidates. Most likely
> human error but it could have been intentional.
>
> https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/politics/20111028_South_Jersey_voting-machine_incident_makes_waves.html
>
>
> It is a good practice to add by who or what an election was stolen when
> and if this term is justified. We can all think of abuses of the term
> "stolen" as well. Again, the context and the evidence possessed are
> critical. Notice pleading standards of information and belief may be
> relevant.
>
> When I talk about this I urge people to realize that regardless of whether
> the inaccuracy is a glitch, human error, or an intentional criminal act, *the
> damage to democracy is the same when the wrong result is announced*. The
> questions of intent raised by the term "stolen" are relevant mostly to the
> criminal law and to questions of blame. So long as (which is usually the
> case) the relevant law does not require pleading and proving intentional
> fraud, the language of intent can be safely dispensed with.
>
> Entire books have been written on the history of election fraud and stolen
> elections. See Deliver the Vote: A History of Election Fraud, an American
> Political Tradition. - Tracy Campbell - Google Books
> https://books.google.com/books/about/Deliver_the_Vote.html?id=v_cJij9bGykC
>
> YouTube currently suppresses videos alleging even "historical" stolen
> elections. This is improper censorship of history. Our country has long
> prided itself on not having secrets of this type where the truth can never
> be told.
>
> Paul Lehto, J.D.
>
> On Fri, Jan 8, 2021, 11:47 AM Margaret Groarke <
> margaret.groarke at manhattan.edu> wrote:
>
>> David Becker earlier today suggested that both sides of the political
>> divide drop the language of "stolen" elections.
>>
>> I've been thinking about this a lot lately.
>>
>> Is it never legitimate to say that an election is stolen? What would be
>> the conditions that would allow us to call an election "stolen"?
>>
>> If someone engaged in illegal acts which caused the outcome of the
>> election to shift from one candidate to another, would that not be
>> stealing? Would there be legal acts -- passing legislation that served to
>> disenfranchise your political opponents, let's say -- that constituted
>> stealing? Or is that something else? Should the fact, as David proposed,
>> that the courts considered and rejected the allegations of illicit actions
>> make it inappropriate to call an election stolen? I'm thinking, again, of
>> Rick Hasen's discussion of the GA gubernatorial election in *Election
>> Meltdown. *
>>
>> Clearly, it's a problem when a large number of Americans believe that a
>> legitimately conducted presidential election is not legitimate. Does it
>> reduce the possibility of this if the supporters of Dino Rossi or Stacy
>> Abrams stop calling the elections they lost "stolen"? Do we want to
>> establish a clearer definition of what would constitute a "stolen"
>> election? Was the North Carolina 9th a stolen election?
>>
>> Is there any reason to believe that if Democrats didn't use the language
>> of stolen elections, Trump and Giuliani wouldn't be using it now?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *Margaret Groarke*
>> *Professor, Political Science*
>> *Coordinator, Community Engaged Learning*
>> https://jaspercommunityengagement.blogspot.com/
>> Make an appointment to talk with me
>> <https://manhattan.starfishsolutions.com/starfish-ops/dl/instructor/serviceCatalog.html?bookmark=connection/13271/schedule>
>> Bronx, NY 10471
>> Phone: 718-862-7943
>> Fax: 718-862-8044
>> margaret.groarke at manhattan.edu <name.name at manhattan.edu>
>> www.manhattan.edu
>>
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