# What sort of Republican cheating and foreign interference do you anticipate in the 2020 election? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 14, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067 "2019-07-14T14:20:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![2ManyTacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/3da27b/32.png) [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/1 "2019-07-14T14:20:53Z")
One of the reasons why I suspect that Trump is the (slight) favorite to win reelection next year is because he will assuredly be the beneficiary of any kind of Republican cheating efforts and foreign interference operations. On the GOP side, Trump may induce his DOJ to launch a bogus investigation into his Democratic rival - after all, it was in all likelihood Comey’s CYA October 2016 letter that threw the election to Trump. Trump could also launch a war with Iran in an effort to induce the public to rally around the president. More broadly, other options include increased efforts by Republicans to suppress the vote, the calculated closing of Democratic polling stations, or additional options I haven’t thought of. On the foreign interference side, we could see a much more intense effort to troll the election on social media platforms. The growth of deepfake technology, moreover, makes it likelier that Russia et al could produce a bogus video of the Democratic nominee doing something politically damaging. On the more sever end of the spectrum, I do not think it’s beyond the realm of possibility that the election itself is hacked to such an extent that votes are actually switched to Trump. An alarmist thread? Maybe, but I think we should still brace for these kinds of possibilities. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/2 "2019-07-14T16:45:04Z")
By “brace” you mean pre-emptively delegitimize an outcome you don’t favor and prepare narratives with no evidence? Of course, brace away. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/3 "2019-07-14T17:56:53Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > By “brace” you mean pre-emptively delegitimize an outcome you don’t favor and prepare narratives with no evidence? Of course, brace away. That’s not what he means at all. Not even close. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/4 "2019-07-14T18:28:27Z")
Some people feel that foreign interference with elections is a bad thing. Other people encourage foreign interference, as long as it helps their side. These people are traitorous. They are happy to sell their country to a hostile nation. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/5 "2019-07-14T18:36:36Z")
OK, so there we have one example of what the Republicans will do: Attempt to pre-emptively delegitimize the outcomes. Any more ideas? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/6 "2019-07-14T18:48:51Z")
Russian Facebook meme farms will create fake accounts to spread lies and promote bigotry just like they did in 2016. Republican-controlled states will continue to allocate voting machines in such a way that the urban voters will have to wait in line for hours while rural voters will be able to vote in minutes. Thousands of legitimate voters will be purged from the voter rolls, specifically targeting urban and minority areas. Republican operatives will collect voter registration forms and destroy those that are presented to them by minority voters. Urban precincts will be relocated or combined with little or no notice, often to remote areas with no public transportation options. The Democratic Party’s cyber security will be breached and secret memos will be leaked at the most opportune times. For all the above, the talking heads on television will wag their fingers and say “isn’t it too bad that both sides do it?” ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/7 "2019-07-14T19:08:02Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > For all the above, the talking heads on television will wag their fingers and say “isn’t it too bad that both sides do it?” And on some cable news networks, they will laugh at the above, and call it “comedic” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/8 "2019-07-14T19:09:20Z")
And if any of it makes it before the Supreme Court, they’ll just say “If you don’t like not being allowed to vote, then vote out the people who are stopping you”. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/9 "2019-07-14T19:20:18Z")
Today’s supreme court might compromise, and agree to give these people 3/5 of a vote. That’s something right? They should be happy with that. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/10 "2019-07-14T19:45:54Z")
About a month ago, there was a large-scale electricity outage in South America. AFAICT there’s been no cause identified, but at the time it was mentioned as a possibility that the grid was hacked. I wondered then and still wonder what would happen if such a broad outage should happen here on election day. In my area, people could still vote (assuming lights could be rigged so people can see to vote), but we couldn’t verify that any voter was in fact registered to vote, and we couldn’t assure they received the right ballot (polling places typically include more than one precinct). And tallying the ballots would be so difficult as to be nearly impossible. So what happens then? Is the election postponed? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/11 "2019-07-14T21:05:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, so there we have one example of what the Republicans will do: Attempt to pre-emptively delegitimize the outcomes. Any more ideas? I think this time the Russians will actually start changing/deleting voter registration rolls in democratic counties as well as changing the vote totals. Also I think other nations like China will hack our democracy against the GOP, since they don’t like Trump. The GOP will continue to support gerrymandering and voter suppression. We still don’t know what happened in Georgia, but something happened. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/12 "2019-07-14T21:19:54Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Some people feel that foreign interference with elections is a bad thing. > > Other people encourage foreign interference, as long as it helps their side. These people are traitorous. They are happy to sell their country to a hostile nation. Still others don’t care either way and recognize the “interference” for what it is. Unstoppable and irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/13 "2019-07-14T21:30:08Z")
Foriegn interference is hard to predict, so I expect typical methods. You know, ads and trolling and stuff to trick the stupid, of which there are many. Scary many. What I expect from Republicans is, at the minimum, their continued efforts to stop people from voting. Lordy, Republicans can’t stand the voice of the people. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/14 "2019-07-14T21:58:45Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Still others don’t care either way and recognize the “interference” for what it is. Unstoppable and irrelevant. Wow… “interference” in scare quotes. That’s like barely a step away fingers in ears and a lalala I can’t hear you. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/15 "2019-07-14T22:31:35Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Still others don’t care either way and recognize the “interference” for what it is. Unstoppable and irrelevant. mmmm. So really, we should not bother about it, since it’s “unstoppable”. So really, who cares, amIright? Whatevahs. Just chill out and accept whatever a foreign country does to the election. Really, nothing you can do about it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/16 "2019-07-14T22:32:42Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Foriegn interference is hard to predict, so I expect typical methods. You know, ads and trolling and stuff to trick the stupid, of which there are many. Scary many. What I expect from Republicans is, at the minimum, their continued efforts to stop people from voting. Lordy, Republicans can’t stand the voice of the people. Well, that, and providing foreign governments with data to do their ads and trolling and stuff. Because that’s OK. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/17 "2019-07-14T22:38:23Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I think this time the Russians will actually start changing/deleting voter registration rolls in democratic counties as well as changing the vote totals. > > Also I think other nations like China will hack our democracy against the GOP, since they don’t like Trump. > > The GOP will continue to support gerrymandering and voter suppression. > > We still don’t know what happened in Georgia, but something happened. If they leave the elections open like that, it’s not going to be just foreign actor meddling, there will be domestic interests that wish to have an affect on the election as well. Large corporations, or just really good hackers, by the end of the night, we may have elected Alex Trebek as High Poobah, and Drew Carry as Senior Minister of Cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/18 "2019-07-14T22:40:52Z")
**WillFarnaby** , that statist authoritarianism that you’re always complaining about? This is exactly what it looks like. The real stuff, that is, not the weak things you’re usually latching on to. The real-world authoritarians love it when people say that it’s impossible to stop them and doesn’t matter, anyway. You’re doing exactly what they want. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/19 "2019-07-14T23:31:17Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > By “brace” you mean pre-emptively delegitimize an outcome you don’t favor and prepare narratives with no evidence? Of course, brace away. No. “Brace”, when used as a verb, can mean prepare (someone or oneself) for something difficult or unpleasant. If you need help with any other definitions, feel free to PM me. For more general assistance, I can connect you with people in the literacy campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067/20 "2019-07-15T00:20:56Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Some people feel that foreign interference with elections is a bad thing. > > Other people encourage foreign interference, as long as it helps their side. These people are traitorous. They are happy to sell their country to a hostile nation. The USA has interfered with numerous elections abroad. Can’t complain when the chickens come home to roost. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-republican-cheating-and-foreign-interference-do-you-anticipate-in-the-2020-election/837067.md?page=2)