If you want to know how easy it would be for Hillary to lose the election,

[Stevepol]

read this recent article from Politico.

It relies a great deal on the files of Brad Friedman at Bradblog.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/08/2016-elections-russia-hack-how-to-hack-an-election-in-seven-minutes-214144

Since at least 2002, computers have been hacked and maliciously programmed in a hundred different ways. If you think they haven't, you are badly in need of some reality therapy. I think most DU-ers know what's going on, but there are a good number of DU-ers who generally strenuously defend these beautiful machines using a hundred completely irrelevant arguments as to why they're safe and secure. To me this is the equivalent of believing climate change to be a hoax.

So cross your fingers folks because this upcoming election is not really in the hands of the voters. It's in the hands of the crooks and ideologues at ES&S and the other voting machine manufacturers and programmers. Or possibly in the hands of the Russian or Chinese or who knows which hackers from which country. Or possibly in the hands of local hackers. The sky is the limit.

But of course we all know these are computers and computers don't make mistakes in math.

[C_U_L8R]

1. Or one forged email

As mentioned in another thread. A forged email at the last minute could be devastating even though many would know it's phony. Nothing would surprise me from Trump.

[PearliePoo2]

2. I'm going to be seriously queasy and on pins and needles until the election is called for Clinton.

Damn, if this isn't scary beyond belief. November is a long time away!

[deathrind]

3. The HBO

Documentary "Hacking Democracy" clearly demonstrated the ease of hacking these voting machines....and the was aired over 10 years ago.

I imagine it has become even easier to do since then...

[Stevepol]

5. Not just easier but also much more sophisticated.

Now they can program the machines to count every vote in Column A as 1.01 votes and every vote in Column B as .99 votes or any other variation of this and the result can be finely calibrated to change the results of a close election so it doesn't look fishy. And I'm sure they have all kinds of very easy methods of hacking using the "memory cards," e.g., or any other flash drive or whatnot that can instantaneously change results and then destroy any evidence of its having happened. I'm sure ES&S has a wide variety of methods for changing the results.

Of course, in KS or FL or any of many other states, it makes no difference how ridiculous the results or what the disparity is between the the exit polls (unadjusted) and the supposed actual result. There's no result that would cause anybody to do anything to verify the vote like, for example, count the actual paper to see if the results are accurate.

It's the world of "faith-based" democracy and welcome to it. It's apparently the best we can do in the US at the moment.

[deathrind]

6. "Faith Based Democracy"...

I like the way you frame that...even though it is enormously disconcerting given the power bestowed upon winner of that "democracy".

I was of the mind set that HRC needs to win by a huge landslide in order to ensure the delta in votes between DT / HRC is large enough to avoid the election being decided by a court...but your reply vitiated that thought. 1.01 / .99 wow, even if the voting machines were locked down under 24/7 guard until Nov. 8 I do not see how we can trust electronic voting machines.

[n2doc]

4. So my question is, why didn't they do this in 2008 or 2012?

If HRC has a big lead, like she does now, I don't think there is any chance of a surprise. 2004 came down to Ohio, and close enough that it could be altered. I don't see that happening now.

Senate races OTOH....