Voter suppresion/"stealing the election" megathread

[Oryxslayer]

Terry Pratchett has a great quote on this topic, and he of course is just summarizing the extensive works of Voltaire into a form understandable to the common reader.

"The only thing known to go faster than ordinary light is monarchy.You can't have more than one king, and tradition demands that there is no gap between kings, so when a king dies the succession must therefore pass to the heir instantaneously."

This principle is just as powerful in elective presidential republics, especially in full view of the public, since a president is just an elected and shackled king. The moment results tick in on election night a new or incumbent president is conferred the legitimacy of office and the public's expectations. The loser is just that, a loser.

So what does this mean for 2020? Trump is trying everything to hold on to power right now and throwing uncertainty into the normal electoral process. This is the nationalization of tactics we have seen in states like Wisconsin and North Carolina. However, in both states the GOP did/does not attempt to damage the sanctity of the vote. When they lost the governor's offices by slim margins, the incumbents were left out to dry and those in the legislature prepared for an era of confrontation. On one level, this stems from the fact that the 1000s of local politicians are elected on the same ballot as the topline, and so disrupting the legitimacy of one naturally throws the legitimacy of the other into question. It mostly though stems from the fact that a loser is a loser. Why would you stick our your neck to risk your position for someone who has lost the mantle of legitimacy? Sure there are a few die-hards, but the majority follow principles of self-interest.

Now you might say wait - this is no longer going to be decided on election night, it's election week. That is partially correct. Most of the states allow mail voting, but count those votes on election night. Certain states take a while to finalize their totals, counting votes postmarked before election day that showed up late as part of their totals. Key states like Florida and North Carolina though will have 95%+ of their votes counted before the sun rises on Wednesday, ensuring that the media can project a winner, even if the final totals are uncertain. It's also improtant in this regard to remember that the media will insta-call most of the states, even if their votes won't all be in until December like New York or California.

Then we get to the second big question: are the GOP going to abandon Trump after all 4 years of supplication? The answer is...no, which seems weird given what I have already said. Lets now turn to the example of Poland. On April 10th 2010, a Airplane went down in fog over Smolensk, killing 96 people. It was a govt plane. Among the dead were President Lech Kaczyński, leading members of PiS parliamentary leadership, Military leaders, and public polish notables. Both the Polish and Russian reports found no criminal or purposeful motives - it was a true accident caused by inadequate training, preparation, and bureaucratic negligence. This didn't stop the conspiracy theories. Almost immediately is became a PiS talking point that the crash was not an accident. Ascension up the party ladder requires a public image that conforms to one conspiracy or another.

This is the easy option. Sticking out ones neck in an act of self-sacrifice for a visible loser or admitting the truth is hard. Waiting until you are secure and then propagating the theories that Trump will no doubt try to encourage on his way out - that is easy. You as a local politician have no impact on the actions individuals take if they believe a conspiracy, but propagating it reconfirms your commitment to the party and may energize the radicals into turning out.

In conclusion, once you lose, you are no longer worth defending, even though you might still be a political asset.