From one perspective, everything that could go wrong in the 2016 election, did go wrong. So let’s play out that string. It appears that Jill Stein will be able to get a recount of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. What’s the worst outcome imaginable?
- A Republican registrar in Wisconsin didn’t bother to count any of the votes cast by students at the University of Wisconsin. Another was found to have miscopied the vote total of 35,619 for Trump as 53,916. After these corrections, Wisconsin switches to Clinton.
- Three boxes of uncounted votes from the most poverty-stricken neighborhood of Detroit are found. They are not enough; Michigan still goes for Trump, by exactly 53 votes. A recount is triggered. Court challenges loom.
- Two boxes of uncounted votes are found in Pittsburgh in the car trunk of a Republican registrar, who shoots himself before he can be questioned. A recount of Philadelphia reveals 40,000 uncounted provisional ballots, most for Clinton. Another Republican registrar in western Pennsylvania dies in a suspicious auto accident, which triggers an investigation of votes there. Pennsylvania switches to Clinton by a margin of less than 1000 votes, but the result is not final.
Result: Clinton has 262 Electoral votes, Trump has 260. Michigan’s recount is tied up in court. Pennsylvania’s recount has been challenged. Two Wisconsin electors announce that they cannot in good conscience vote for Clinton. Trump rages on Twitter.
It’s the worst possible result, because now, no one trusts that the election results are honest, or known, or even knowable.
Does not the very horror of this prospect make it plausible, here in this annus horribilis?
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