Are American elections just one big rigged system? Though there have been numerous claims of voter fraud, it can be hard to know how truly concerned about it we should be. There is actually something a lot scarier hiding in the fraud accusations. Be careful the next time you stumble upon the next headline telling you that an election was 100% stolen.

How quick should we be to trust the outcomes of elections? One of the most pressing concerns to come out of the 2020 election was the loud and overwhelming concern from former President Donald Trump about voter fraud. He made numerous claims since the election that he was the true winner, and that the election was stolen from him.

It does seem to be the cause for some concern, and many since then have demanded answers. After all, if we do not have free and fair elections in this country, then do we even truly have a democracy? Is voter fraud the great threat to our nation? 

In the most direct manner: No. 

Despite the numerous investigations determined to prove otherwise, there has been no definitive proof that the 2020 election was stolen. The election fraud claims came in from numerous, but not always credible, sources. They pointed fingers at multiple groups, organizations, and even countries, but the claims have since been dismissed. 

Yet, there is something scarier happening. Despite the lack of proof, many Republicans still believe the narrative that the election was stolen. Trump himself is still pushing this narrative that he was cheated. 

Voter fraud is not a current major threat to American democracy but former President Trump’s insistent accusations against the election is. The way that Trump is using the election fraud claims to further populism and to undermine the political institutions of the government is cause for concern.

Trump’s insistence on voter fraud shows off some of his populist tendencies. Populists can be defined as those that are both anti-elitist and anti-pluralist. They are often critical of elites even when they become the elite. Populists in power will continue to blame other entities for any failures in their administration. 

Populists are also anti-pluralist. Anti-pluralism lumps certain people (those that agree with the populist) as the “correct” people, while others (those that object) are the traitors or the “lesser” people. This anti-pluralism creates a particular threat to democracy because it increases polarization and furthers an “us vs. them” mentality among people. With populists in power, it can also silence minority voices.

Trump’s election fraud claims have both anti-elitist and anti-pluralist undertones to it. He continuously attacks the election officials and any politicians within the states that he believes he was cheated out of. He calls them corrupt and acts as if they are working against him. 

His claims are also anti-pluralist. Populists like to act as if the people speak with one collective voice. That any objection to that voice is silencing the “true” people. Trump acts as if there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that he did win the 2020 election. He accuses those that speak out against him of being corrupt and cheating him out of his victory, undermining voices that object to him.

Recently, Trump has threatened prosecution against those he feels might cheat him out of a win in 2024, including election officials, lawyers, donors, and voters. By threatening those that administer elections, he is attempting to suppress those voices that oppose him.

If he can effectively silence or just get rid of those that speak out against him then they will be replaced by only those that agree with him. This would further the belief that he speaks for all of the people if he can undermine anyone that would oppose him. Yet, he is not speaking for everyone. He simply rejects and silences the other voices. 

This rise in Trump’s populism and the growing willinging of Republicans to believe his conspiracy theories is particularly dangerous to American democracy because of the way he is using it to undermine political institutions. The scary thing about populism is how this political control can be done openly and with public support. It is often framed as necessary to protect democracy. 

Trump is not trying to silence others. He is doing it to preserve democracy and rid America of cheaters, or so he says. 

This undermining of the institutions of democracy leads slowly into authoritarianism. We can often see politicians become authoritarians when they undermine officials, silence the opposition, and change laws to keep themselves in power. We can take all of these and see them in Trump’s election fraud accusations. 

In these claims he is threatening prosecution against officials. He has accused the Democratic Party of cheating in the election, attempting to discredit them. He also tries to place doubt on voting laws, such as his criticisms of mail-in ballots. A policy which increases voter turnout in many states, especially for minorities. 

The way that Trump and the Republican Party are able to convince many people to so heavily doubt the election outcome is dangerous. If there is no faith in the election process, then there is doubt in the democracy as a whole.

That is how we get to events such as the insurrection on January 6th, 2021. People were convinced that the system had been corrupted. They believed they were fighting for democracy. They were made to believe that. Yet it really was an attempt to overthrow the system.

None of this is to say that people should put their blind faith into these institutions. People can, and should, hold some skepticism over what politicians tell them. That is part of how citizens keep their representatives accountable. 

There needs to be a happy medium. If there are accusations of possible fraud, then they should be investigated. Yet if after investigation the outcome remains the same, people also need to be willing to admit to a loss. Falling into these traps of conspiracy theories can be just as dangerous as blindly trusting everything the government says. 

The 2020 election is a case where the investigations have come back with little evidence suggesting significant voter fraud. Going forward into 2024, it is very likely that much of the same rhetoric will surround the news cycles once again. Those claims do not need to be written off entirely, but neither should they be accepted right away as fact.