Many options are available, and several can be used simultaneously.
- Before the actual vote, of course, warm up your base by declaring the outcome is “rigged” or that certain types of votes—types that will probably favor your opponent, which in 2020 included absentee or mailed ballots—are somehow fraudulent. This makes it all the more believable to your base when the actual votes are not in your favor or certain types of votes change the overall count against you.
- When the numbers go against you, declare that some unidentified others are stealing the election. You cannot identify who they are, because of course they are do not exist. However, the uneducated voters who knows little about how government and lobbyists actually work, so they can accept it on faith[1] that such a group exists and is acting. More educated voters who believe in you will give you the benefit of the doubt.
- Study Fox News headlines, which provide pathways forward; for example, study these actual headlines from Nov. 4, 2020:
- “Donald Trump: ‘We were winning everything and all of a sudden it was just called off.’” If you work in news media, simply quote the president, no matter how false his statements are. Don’t mention his assertions have no evidence, that he is merely lying. For a certain segment of the populace, his words will be accepted at face value. Do not allow discussion of the clear falsity of “everything” or what “called off” means when states merely continue to count votes, or discussion of who could possibly have the authority to do such a thing.
- “More Americans voted for Donald Trump this year than in 2016.” This can add fuel to the fire inside uneducated citizens by picking one statistic out of context and ignoring others. Many will not reflect that 2020 there are more Americans of voting age, and more Americans voted for the Democratic candidate in 2020 than in 2016 for the same reason.
- “How a contested election could affect the stock market”. This indicates the path to later asserting “We must end this election contesting for the sake of the nation’s economy” and, again, being part of the argument to justify using force to end vote counting or lawsuits.
- Rile up emotion by reporting stories about injuries to right-wing heroes such as the Proud Boys even if the sources are untrustworthy (such as tabloids like the New York Post). Or for example “Man accused of assaulting 69-year-old Trump supporter holding sign.” Do not report members of your side performing alleged crimes against the other side.
- File lawsuits in courts to which your party has appointed more judges. This worked to marvelous effect in 2000, where the Democratic party and the Republican party did just that. Unfortunately for the Democrats, the Republicans had appointed more judges to the Supreme Court who ruled 5-4 in their favor.
- Send groups of lawyers to every state where the numbers are close, even though there are no indications of laws being broken. They can do any of one or more things:
- Allege irregularities and delay counts or recounts or official acceptance of numbers
- Coach false witnesses, who can allege irregularities that never happened, in order to create a lawsuit
- If doomed, these lawsuits can delay the processes, and thus create more civil unrest. See #5 above.
- You may get luck and actually find some irregularities in their law or procedures, that you may appeal to the court that has the justices you want.
- The piece de resistance of course is to foment civil unrest by actions the opposition will find outrageous, then increase the civil unrest by using violence against it, and then declare the election contesting must end because it is creating civil unrest. This method has been used in virtually every government in the world at one time or another.
- Of course, if you are more interested in preventing an election from being stolen, keep your eye out for the items above.
[1] See article on “How to Know When Idolizing a Person,” to be published soon.
Make It Real 