Y'know what? I suspect there WAS fraud in this election.

[tritsofme]

108. They already had that rule, it was just flagrantly violated in 2004.

And was tightened up considerably after that incident.

Only sites like Drudge and Kos published leaked early exit results. It was widely known in newsrooms and even the campaigns, but only political junkies would have been aware in the general public.

There is absolutely no evidence that the information was widely circulated enough to depress turnout in any meaningful way. The folks who viewed the leaks still had no way of knowing if data that was exclusively being shared through unreliable and non-mainstream sources was even at all accurate.

The only comparable story I recall is in 1980 when Carter conceded while polls were still open on the West coast, and many believe it led to further down ballot losses. But this 2004 story is just the stuff of myths.