Who Stole the 2020 Election and How To Prevent A Repeat?

The 2020 Presidential Election was one of the most controversial elections our country has ever had – on par with the famous “Hanging Chads” election of 2000 between Al Gore and George Bush that was settled by a 527 vote margin in Florida. Despite election experts from both parties and international agreeing that this election was the most secure ever in the United States, and the results are legitimate, I still believe the election was stolen – but not in the way you might think.

What is the Controversy?

On the surface, it doesn’t look like there should be any controversy as Joe Biden won the popular vote by 7 million votes and the Electoral College 306 to 232. However, when we look closer we see it was a lot closer than it appears. A difference of only 43,000 votes across Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin would have shifted the Electoral College vote to a tie at 269 each and would have given President Trump a win based on the House of Representatives.

The 2020 election was significantly different than any prior election. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a much larger portion of the population chose to vote by mail, and there were concerns expressed starting months before the election that this could lead to fraud. After the election, claims of voting machine fraud were raised in multiple states. Even now, more than 18 months after the election, there is still regular discussion online and on the news about this. The sheer number of voters also raised concerns as the most voters ever cast a ballot and there was discussion if this was legitimate. Before this election, the highest number of votes for a single candidate was Barack Obama with 69.4 million votes, but in this election, both candidates had over 74 million votes.

Are Any of These Claims True?

In short – no, there is no significant evidence that any of these claims are true. More importantly, no major claims were ever proven in court. 

Several recounts and audits have been performed across multiple states. Some of these were standard recounts, but there have also been several high-profile third-party recounts, including at least one in Arizona by a highly partisan group. Each one validated the results, and some ended up increasing Joe Biden’s margin.

The biggest reason I believe the election was legitimate is because the Republican party controlled the legislature in every battleground state, and the Governor of each of those states except Wisconsin was Republican as well. Despite this, every single one of the battleground states that contributed to Joe Biden’s victory accepted the results – some grudgingly and some after a lot of reviews, but they all signed off on the results.

Than How Was the Election Stolen?

Even though the election itself was not stolen, the narrative of the election was – and this is at least as important as the election itself.

By controlling the narrative, former President Trump has successfully pulled attention away from the current administration and weakened their ability to follow through on their agenda. In addition, through continuing to agitate his followers and encouraging Congressional Republicans to be obstructionist, President Trump has helped set up the Republican party to take over both houses of Congress in this year’s election. At the state level, it has also set the stage for more radical Republicans to try to take over as Secretary of State and Governor in several states, where they can potentially have more control over the outcome of the next election.

How Do We Prevent a Repeat, and Should We Do Anything?

This is a big question. I am not going into the politics around the January 6th invasion at the capital as that is still being addressed by Congress and the courts.

There is nothing inherently illegal about what President Trump has done overall. He is using his First Amendment rights to speak. Even though I disagree with his assertions about the election being stolen and believe his focus on the past is holding the country back, he is within his rights to do so.

The problem lies more with the media. By giving President Trump so much attention, he is able to keep influencing the narrative excessively. President Trump seems to keep benefitting the more the country is divided, and those divisions continue to be reinforced as long as he is given the time to speak freely.

Does this mean the media should not cover his activities? No – there is an active interest by a large portion of the population in what he is doing. If he doesn’t get any attention from the media, there would be a legitimate argument that he is being unfairly silenced or censored.

What about requiring fact checking notifications and disclaimers? This would be a good idea, but it would not be universally adopted or believed. Many mainstream media sources, including online information sources, are now voluntarily including fact check notifications, but these have been shown to have minimal impact on personal beliefs.

So is the answer to complain about it and not do anything? In a way, yes. Complaining does not accomplish anything. However, I would encourage our media to re-evaluate how much time and attention they give him, as well as how he is presented. Otherwise, if we set a goal to ensure every election is at least as fair as the 2020 election, we will continue to be in good shape.

What we can do individually is be open to discussions even when we disagree with people. By reaching out and understanding each other better, I believe we are more likely to reach a place where we can work together and reduce the impact. Everyone wants to feel heard and understood. America is stronger when we can stand together – not apart, but we need to be able to understand each other even when we don’t agree to do that.