BracetheNation: Election Nightmares that Could Happen in Real Life

Sure, a meteor could hit the earth. A lightning bolt could hit the White House. But in the coming national election, we're more likely to see fraud being committed before our very eyes.

We've listed some election nightmares that could occur, from the very worst to the, um, least worst.

Slate.com's "The Ten Scariest Election Scenarios, Ranked" was our guide on this post.

A smite from a lightning bolt seems overdue. How long, O Lord?

1. Today's Nightmare: Messed-up Mail

This threat is already underway at the Postal Service. Trump has literally told a Fox newscaster that the purpose is to disrupt mail-in voting. Hundreds of thousands of voters would be disenfranchised if the administration gets away with it. Since polls show half (or more) of Biden voters are planning to vote by mail, the advantage would be Trump's.

The first Democrat to mount the barricades after Trump's remarks was New Jersey representative Bill Pascrell, who announced Friday that he'd called for a grand jury investigation of every official involved in the "arson" of the USPS.

Pascrell wasn't the first to sound the alarm, though. Federal-level investigations are already underway. And in July, the General Counsel of the USPS contacted at least 40 states' governments to warn them to urge voters to request their mail-in ballots as early as possible. On Friday, the estimated number of states facing mass voter disenfranchisement was 46.

The good news: So far, the concern centers on ballots being returned on time. As long as voters receive ballots before election day, they can return their votes to a drop box or polling station.

In Pennsylvania, the Trump campaign is said to be suing the state over drop boxes (potential for fraud, the Trumplets say) but there will still be the option of turn-ins in polling stations, no matter what happens there.

2. Pressure to End the Count

Trump's minions, aided by right-wing media outlets, could demand that the vote be called before all the mail-in ballots are counted.

Remember Florida's 2000 snafu? That's exactly what happened. Affluent young Republican men were bused in to pressure election officials to stop counting, and the strategy worked.*

The Slate piece suggests that "Count Every Vote" protests nearby might help prevent an undercount.

3. Right-wing Media Declare a Trump Victory

If there are no reliable media reports that everyone will accept, voters may believe that their side has won when they really haven't. Voters on both sides are poles apart in their choice of news sources, so a loss could be as big a surprise as a wet flounder slapping them in the face (you wouldn't expect that, now would you?)

To combat the problem, states can enlist international election watchers. Officials from the "Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights" have been keeping an eye on elections in the US since 2002.

4. Voter Intimidation in Communities of Color

This may sound like a no-brainer, but concrete plans are underway. Slate quotes a former Justice Department official: "The Republican National Committee... is now recruiting 50,000 volunteers in 15 states to watch the polls and challenge voters they believe are suspicious. True the Vote, a group that seeks to make voting ‘like driving and seeing the police following you,’ is recruiting police officers and ex-military [officials] to patrol precincts in ‘inner city’ and Native American precincts.” Trump could also make use of the Insurrection Act, or pull a stunt like the invasion of Portland under the guise of protecting voting integrity.

5. Emergency COVID19 Lockdowns

Left-leaning states and towns could suddenly find themselves on mandatory lockdown for a fake virus emergency. Such a crisis would fool no one, but that doesn't mean Trump won't do it.

6. Targeted Power Failures

Let's assume that foreign powers would be the ones hacking the grid in Democratic parts of the country, because partisan sabotage is unthinkable.

If that's not enough reasons to keep you wide awake until election day, try reading the Slate article for four more.

*A word of reassurance: After the election, I kept an eye on an investigation made by Miami Herald. It was never published. Elsewhere, I read that George Bush did indeed come out ahead in the disputed districts. That's fortunate, but nobody could have predicted the outcome on election night.

Have we worried you unduly? Do you think hackers, right-wing thugs, or foreign operatives are planning to tamper with the Election? What’s your guess about how?

"Lightning strike" by justinrussell is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0