Mark, I agree with all your observations. I not only look forward to voting Blue in 2026 and 2028 but I look forward voting in our new District for Abigail Spanberger for our Governor.
By the way, Spanberger is a Jersey Girl who moved to Virginia while Mikie Sherrill, running for Governor in NJ, is a Virginia girl who moved to NJ.
I continue to read all your columns. I haven’t responded much in writing because I have been consumed by our move. This will change. And I look forward to having breakfast or lunch with you after August 15.
The Dems can and should make him their ally. What really needs to happen, is the abolishment of the EC. Every vote must be equally weighted in the General Election. Land does not vote.
Yes, the machines in the seven swing states were definitely tampered with by Musk’s Starlink coupled with Thiel’s Palantir operating systems.
The main certifier of voting machine integrity has mysteriously vanished and things look pretty fishy- 88 Blue counties flipped to Red while not a single county flipped the other way. Voting counts were manipulated so they were always just a few votrs shy of triggering automatic hand recounts.
If you can believe that was all sheer coincidence then I don’t know what would convince you that widespread voting machine fraud was committed in the 2024 election
I don’t believe it was a coincidence at all.i think Kamala Harris won and Musk and Co fucked us over. I am not sure what to do at this point but no way do I believe that tRump flipped all the swing states in his favor.
Mr Anderson, Biden was president then. What did Musk and Thiel have to do with federal voting and voting machines?
As for the flipped counties, although I agree with you that it's very odd that all the flipping, as you report it, was in one direction, Dems made some important mistakes in last year's election. Biden had said he wasn't going to run, then did; he totally fell on his face in a debate; Harris desperately aligned herself with Liz Cheney; voters got confused about who (Biden or Donnie) should have been credited with what; Biden was never forceful enough, and did not use the "bully pulpit." You'd have a better case to ask how in the universe Donnie could have won in '16.
There are two firms allowed to approve any modifications to the code that the machines operate under. Some funny business with changing of personnel, one of whom I suspect was compromised by Peter Thiel before the election to approve code changes that guaranteed a trump victory in all seven swing states.
Didn’t matter who was President at the time.
And I agree with you that Biden did a disservice to the nation by hanging on instead of bowing out early and letting the Dems have a proper Primary election. And a woman was never going to defeat trump; this country is still not ready to elect a woman, unfortunately. And especially not a woman of mixed ethnicity.
Thank you Mark, for addressing my greatest fear, the free and fair 2026 upcoming elections. The fact that another one of my favs, Marc Friedman, believes all will be well, in 2026 adds to my hope for a crushing turnout victory. That being said, as of yesterday, the U.S. now will have the largest domestic police force in the world. I do not trust this administration to do anything legal anymore. Laws don’t mean squat to those republicans that wish to stay in power. We’ve seen it on a daily basis since January 07, 2025. I’m going to read “*The Declaration of
Independence “* later this morning, again. Where there is a will, there is hope. Please keep writing on this issue. Have a reflective 4th of July to you and yours. CBA
Stop calling them a "police force" of any kind. They are simply Gestapo! The tactics are not just similar they are the same! Who trump designates as "Undesirables" will be removed to concentration camps awaiting deportation to other lands. The killing will be done there with trumps express permission. Don't doubt it. He knew CECOT used torture before he paid them millions of YOUR tax dollars to take them. This time in the history of your country is not going to end well.
Things will indeed get worse before they get better. That is why it will be so paramountly important to come out by the millions and millions to vote in 2026. A ginormous amount of registered voters coming out to vote AGAINST this tyranny is the only way to overcome this nightmare. It’s what Democracy is all about.
I agree Claudia but.....along with the bill they just passed.....republicans knowing that it would kill their career and didn't put a stop to it, has me wondering what do they know that we don't? Democracy dies in darkness. Yes?
No, Vee! Don’t stop, don’t ever stop! Keep up your GOOD NOISE! That is what’s going to make the difference! March, carry cool signs, resist, do it all. At least while we are able. Remember, there are more of us than them. 🇺🇸💕💥(🇺🇦)!
Also, we can’t forget North Carolina’s Supreme Court win for Allison Griggs FINALLY!! I live in NC and it dragged out for MONTHS and finally just in late May or early June she was finally sworn after having won in November! Her opponent did everything to get those 65,000 votes removed for the most ridiculous reasons. I hope you are right. I believe you are…. BUT-
what about all the talk over Musk’s comments after the election him about him saying something that could put him in prison for years (or something like that) if he got caught. I think he might have said it on Rogan’s podcast. Also Trump’s post win speech and thanking Musk for something to do with computers. More lies from them both?
I absolutely want to believe what you just wrote but I also have these deeply nagging and persistent thoughts inside telling me that there is absolutely NOTHING that DJT or his party would not do to win if they think they will loose. I hope that makes sense…
Thank you for this. I hope to god you're right. Disenfranchisement, voter suppression and intimidation will handicap us in any case. Our best hope is to radically amp up democratic messaging to cut through the brainwashing of independents and low turnout voters.
Yes, the state courts and Supreme Courts have been friends of the voters. They have not permitted partisan gerrymandering.
Anyone who wants to try for manipulation of the vote count will do well to remember that every one of over 60 court challenges in '20, and every one of 50 governors, some of whom no doubt voted for Donnie, and wanted him to win, told him no.
As for voting machines, anyone who wants to challenge them can ask Fox News how that gambit turned out.
They're trying as hard as they can, but at least for now, the guardrails are holding. And Republicans are losing almost all special elections.
I agree with you that the '26 elections will happen, and that will be reliable.
Having said that, I will point out one news story I read a couple of weeks ago about a county in NY in which Harris got zero votes, and even a third party candidate got votes. That's so grossly improbable as to raise suspicions of cheating. But it wasn't rampant. It was one county in one state (which tends to vote blue). Of course, enough of that in scattered places can make a definitive difference, but I still agree with you.
Ole Anderson would likely agree with you. Although almost all of the voting was at the same time, so you couldn't run a test, then expand the "real run" to a wider electorate. I also thought it was weird that this was reported several months after the election. I don't know who's still counting votes several months later, after a winner is declared, conceded to, inaugurated, and in office.
So in other words. We don’t really know. At least we should “prepare for the worst” don’t you agree? Also are you talking about Ole Anderson the wrestler? How is he relevant. No I haven’t read anything about him, I’m just old and remember his name. Funny you should mention him though as trump is going to stage fights, of sorts, at the White House. How weird is that! I’m sure it’s to delight his “fans” more than anything.
I don't know anything about wrestling. Ole Anderson wrote a comment in this thread.
I think we do know. Donnie won, and he's destroying the country.
If "prepare for the worst" means it can get worse than it is, then yes, prepare for that. And if anything, preparing means voting. You will remember that since Donnie won in '16, Republicans kept losing everything until last year. His and their behavior now will ensure that they get annihilated from now on. IF WE VOTE!
I didn't say that your vote won't count and of course YOU SHOULD VOTE. I just want it known that trumps regime can change the rules at his behest and they, the republicans will obey. So beware.
I hate to say it, but you might be right. Congressional Republicans are worthless and impotent, and SCOTUS has whatever problems and hang-ups it has.
But if we make it to '26, and take over all of Congress, you don't think parts of SCOTUS get impeached? If we do make it, and that happens, that gives us back two branches (out of three) of government. And the current Executive branch only dominates because the other two branches are pussies and evil. So if we get back two, we can neutralize the third. Then we raise taxes on the rich, so we can function, and we start cleaning up messes.
I think you miss the point. What happens when the orange turd simply declares elections cancelled? There are reports that Miami has cancelled municipal elections already, and that North Carolina is moving to suspend theirs. If true, that’s the next battleground, not trying to rig the results but not allowing voting at all. That’s what we have to be planning for.
We have to plan for it, but he won’t have an easy time for it for the reasons I pointed out and because he will face a massive uprising from Democrats. He is going to overreach and that is where it will happen.
It’s the voter suppression that they are concentrating on. If they can control the overseas, the inner city, the elderly and other groups who need help, they hope to win with the uneducated and the billionaires.
In order for for election tampering/fraud allegations to come to light, the evidence will have to be presented and stand up in a court of law. So far, this hasn't happened. Let's face it--Biden's hubris got the better of him and hamstrung the Democrats' efforts in 2024. A hard lesson learned. Another thing to keep in mind is that exit polls lined up with the results. Had there been vote tampering in any of these districts it would have caught everyone's attention. I agree there was "tampering" in the form of egregious voter influence and this very well could have tipped the balance just enough. I also agree it is good to thoroughly investigate any questionable voting results--it sends a message that messing with the systems and processes will result in dogged scrutiny.
First, the scope of Smart Elections’ claims is geographically limited; they focus only on Rockland County, and there is no evidence presented that similar issues occurred elsewhere or that the overall national outcome was affected.
Second, while statistical anomalies and affidavits are cause for concern and warrant investigation, such evidence does not automatically prove fraud or systemic unfairness. Outliers can sometimes result from benign factors like demographic quirks, reporting errors, or procedural misunderstandings. The affidavits, while important, need to be corroborated by a transparent recount or audit.
Regarding the voting machine concerns, the accredited testing lab responsible for certifying the updates maintains that the changes were minor and did not impact election integrity.
However, Smart Elections is correct to highlight the need for transparency, as public trust depends on open processes and thorough scrutiny of any changes to election technology. Still, there is no direct evidence so far that these updates caused or enabled vote miscounts.
The legal process is ongoing, with a court allowing discovery to proceed based on the seriousness of the allegations, but there has been no judicial finding of fraud or error at this stage. Smart Elections’ call for a full hand recount is a reasonable request for transparency, but until such a recount is conducted and independently verified, their conclusions about unfairness remain allegations rather than established facts.
Smart Elections raises legitimate transparency and accountability issues that deserve investigation, but their conclusions about the fairness of the 2024 elections are not yet substantiated by definitive evidence. The current claims justify further scrutiny, but do not, on their own, demonstrate systemic unfairness or fraud.
Not canceled, per se, as I understand it. The election schedule was adjusted to match up with the federal election cycle. There will be a one-year pause for their local elections. Yes, it appears as a power grab for an additional year--and I fear this period will be used to advance an unpopular agenda. I'm sure if a progressive party had the majority and this was proposed, the conservatives would be crying foul from the rooftops. I beleive the goal is to increase voter turnout for their local elections. Historically, a larger voter turnout typically swings progressive/liberal. In spite of the short-term effects, this may turn out to be a good thing in the long run. (Disclosure: I'm no political expert. Just some of my thoughts and observations). I do, however, share your concerns.
Mark, I agree with all your observations. I not only look forward to voting Blue in 2026 and 2028 but I look forward voting in our new District for Abigail Spanberger for our Governor.
By the way, Spanberger is a Jersey Girl who moved to Virginia while Mikie Sherrill, running for Governor in NJ, is a Virginia girl who moved to NJ.
I continue to read all your columns. I haven’t responded much in writing because I have been consumed by our move. This will change. And I look forward to having breakfast or lunch with you after August 15.
Thank you my friend. Good luck with the move and I’ll look forward to it.
So Spanberger is a carpetbagger but does the term still apply in the reverse for Sherrill?
Funny coincidence!
I think Elon Musk has already compromised the voting machines via a company named Pro V&V. And he uploads and down loads stuff via Starlink.
Elon Musk is now Trump’s enemy.
The Dems can and should make him their ally. What really needs to happen, is the abolishment of the EC. Every vote must be equally weighted in the General Election. Land does not vote.
Amen.
Yes, the machines in the seven swing states were definitely tampered with by Musk’s Starlink coupled with Thiel’s Palantir operating systems.
The main certifier of voting machine integrity has mysteriously vanished and things look pretty fishy- 88 Blue counties flipped to Red while not a single county flipped the other way. Voting counts were manipulated so they were always just a few votrs shy of triggering automatic hand recounts.
If you can believe that was all sheer coincidence then I don’t know what would convince you that widespread voting machine fraud was committed in the 2024 election
I don’t believe it was a coincidence at all.i think Kamala Harris won and Musk and Co fucked us over. I am not sure what to do at this point but no way do I believe that tRump flipped all the swing states in his favor.
Mr Anderson, Biden was president then. What did Musk and Thiel have to do with federal voting and voting machines?
As for the flipped counties, although I agree with you that it's very odd that all the flipping, as you report it, was in one direction, Dems made some important mistakes in last year's election. Biden had said he wasn't going to run, then did; he totally fell on his face in a debate; Harris desperately aligned herself with Liz Cheney; voters got confused about who (Biden or Donnie) should have been credited with what; Biden was never forceful enough, and did not use the "bully pulpit." You'd have a better case to ask how in the universe Donnie could have won in '16.
Look up voting machine validation irregularities.
There are two firms allowed to approve any modifications to the code that the machines operate under. Some funny business with changing of personnel, one of whom I suspect was compromised by Peter Thiel before the election to approve code changes that guaranteed a trump victory in all seven swing states.
Didn’t matter who was President at the time.
And I agree with you that Biden did a disservice to the nation by hanging on instead of bowing out early and letting the Dems have a proper Primary election. And a woman was never going to defeat trump; this country is still not ready to elect a woman, unfortunately. And especially not a woman of mixed ethnicity.
I will still vote of course but now that we are living in a dictatorship everything is up for grabs.
Thank you Mark, for addressing my greatest fear, the free and fair 2026 upcoming elections. The fact that another one of my favs, Marc Friedman, believes all will be well, in 2026 adds to my hope for a crushing turnout victory. That being said, as of yesterday, the U.S. now will have the largest domestic police force in the world. I do not trust this administration to do anything legal anymore. Laws don’t mean squat to those republicans that wish to stay in power. We’ve seen it on a daily basis since January 07, 2025. I’m going to read “*The Declaration of
Independence “* later this morning, again. Where there is a will, there is hope. Please keep writing on this issue. Have a reflective 4th of July to you and yours. CBA
Stop calling them a "police force" of any kind. They are simply Gestapo! The tactics are not just similar they are the same! Who trump designates as "Undesirables" will be removed to concentration camps awaiting deportation to other lands. The killing will be done there with trumps express permission. Don't doubt it. He knew CECOT used torture before he paid them millions of YOUR tax dollars to take them. This time in the history of your country is not going to end well.
Things will indeed get worse before they get better. That is why it will be so paramountly important to come out by the millions and millions to vote in 2026. A ginormous amount of registered voters coming out to vote AGAINST this tyranny is the only way to overcome this nightmare. It’s what Democracy is all about.
I agree Claudia but.....along with the bill they just passed.....republicans knowing that it would kill their career and didn't put a stop to it, has me wondering what do they know that we don't? Democracy dies in darkness. Yes?
Sigh, I feel your pain. There is no argument against conjecture!😐
Okay. I guess that's the end. No more "conjecture" coming from me.
No, Vee! Don’t stop, don’t ever stop! Keep up your GOOD NOISE! That is what’s going to make the difference! March, carry cool signs, resist, do it all. At least while we are able. Remember, there are more of us than them. 🇺🇸💕💥(🇺🇦)!
Also, we can’t forget North Carolina’s Supreme Court win for Allison Griggs FINALLY!! I live in NC and it dragged out for MONTHS and finally just in late May or early June she was finally sworn after having won in November! Her opponent did everything to get those 65,000 votes removed for the most ridiculous reasons. I hope you are right. I believe you are…. BUT-
what about all the talk over Musk’s comments after the election him about him saying something that could put him in prison for years (or something like that) if he got caught. I think he might have said it on Rogan’s podcast. Also Trump’s post win speech and thanking Musk for something to do with computers. More lies from them both?
I absolutely want to believe what you just wrote but I also have these deeply nagging and persistent thoughts inside telling me that there is absolutely NOTHING that DJT or his party would not do to win if they think they will loose. I hope that makes sense…
Thank you for this. I hope to god you're right. Disenfranchisement, voter suppression and intimidation will handicap us in any case. Our best hope is to radically amp up democratic messaging to cut through the brainwashing of independents and low turnout voters.
I wonder: can we begin now to recall/primary the leaders who, by passing this bill, voted against the needs of their constituents?
Thank you for this article! Given all that has happened over the last few days, this was a ray of light and hope in the darkness.
Yes, the state courts and Supreme Courts have been friends of the voters. They have not permitted partisan gerrymandering.
Anyone who wants to try for manipulation of the vote count will do well to remember that every one of over 60 court challenges in '20, and every one of 50 governors, some of whom no doubt voted for Donnie, and wanted him to win, told him no.
As for voting machines, anyone who wants to challenge them can ask Fox News how that gambit turned out.
They're trying as hard as they can, but at least for now, the guardrails are holding. And Republicans are losing almost all special elections.
I agree with you that the '26 elections will happen, and that will be reliable.
Having said that, I will point out one news story I read a couple of weeks ago about a county in NY in which Harris got zero votes, and even a third party candidate got votes. That's so grossly improbable as to raise suspicions of cheating. But it wasn't rampant. It was one county in one state (which tends to vote blue). Of course, enough of that in scattered places can make a definitive difference, but I still agree with you.
"It was only one county in one state!" Maybe they were doing a "test run?"
Ole Anderson would likely agree with you. Although almost all of the voting was at the same time, so you couldn't run a test, then expand the "real run" to a wider electorate. I also thought it was weird that this was reported several months after the election. I don't know who's still counting votes several months later, after a winner is declared, conceded to, inaugurated, and in office.
So in other words. We don’t really know. At least we should “prepare for the worst” don’t you agree? Also are you talking about Ole Anderson the wrestler? How is he relevant. No I haven’t read anything about him, I’m just old and remember his name. Funny you should mention him though as trump is going to stage fights, of sorts, at the White House. How weird is that! I’m sure it’s to delight his “fans” more than anything.
I don't know anything about wrestling. Ole Anderson wrote a comment in this thread.
I think we do know. Donnie won, and he's destroying the country.
If "prepare for the worst" means it can get worse than it is, then yes, prepare for that. And if anything, preparing means voting. You will remember that since Donnie won in '16, Republicans kept losing everything until last year. His and their behavior now will ensure that they get annihilated from now on. IF WE VOTE!
I didn't say that your vote won't count and of course YOU SHOULD VOTE. I just want it known that trumps regime can change the rules at his behest and they, the republicans will obey. So beware.
I hate to say it, but you might be right. Congressional Republicans are worthless and impotent, and SCOTUS has whatever problems and hang-ups it has.
But if we make it to '26, and take over all of Congress, you don't think parts of SCOTUS get impeached? If we do make it, and that happens, that gives us back two branches (out of three) of government. And the current Executive branch only dominates because the other two branches are pussies and evil. So if we get back two, we can neutralize the third. Then we raise taxes on the rich, so we can function, and we start cleaning up messes.
Your posts as well as others subscribed to don't show up in my notes/feed, although liking recent posts. Substack's chat gives nonsensical answers.
I think you miss the point. What happens when the orange turd simply declares elections cancelled? There are reports that Miami has cancelled municipal elections already, and that North Carolina is moving to suspend theirs. If true, that’s the next battleground, not trying to rig the results but not allowing voting at all. That’s what we have to be planning for.
We have to plan for it, but he won’t have an easy time for it for the reasons I pointed out and because he will face a massive uprising from Democrats. He is going to overreach and that is where it will happen.
I hope you’re right!
WHY I BELIEVE YOU ARE WRONG
It’s the voter suppression that they are concentrating on. If they can control the overseas, the inner city, the elderly and other groups who need help, they hope to win with the uneducated and the billionaires.
In order for for election tampering/fraud allegations to come to light, the evidence will have to be presented and stand up in a court of law. So far, this hasn't happened. Let's face it--Biden's hubris got the better of him and hamstrung the Democrats' efforts in 2024. A hard lesson learned. Another thing to keep in mind is that exit polls lined up with the results. Had there been vote tampering in any of these districts it would have caught everyone's attention. I agree there was "tampering" in the form of egregious voter influence and this very well could have tipped the balance just enough. I also agree it is good to thoroughly investigate any questionable voting results--it sends a message that messing with the systems and processes will result in dogged scrutiny.
Thank you Mark for bringing clarity to this issue
Please explain why you reject analyzes from
Smartelections and others.
First, the scope of Smart Elections’ claims is geographically limited; they focus only on Rockland County, and there is no evidence presented that similar issues occurred elsewhere or that the overall national outcome was affected.
Second, while statistical anomalies and affidavits are cause for concern and warrant investigation, such evidence does not automatically prove fraud or systemic unfairness. Outliers can sometimes result from benign factors like demographic quirks, reporting errors, or procedural misunderstandings. The affidavits, while important, need to be corroborated by a transparent recount or audit.
Regarding the voting machine concerns, the accredited testing lab responsible for certifying the updates maintains that the changes were minor and did not impact election integrity.
However, Smart Elections is correct to highlight the need for transparency, as public trust depends on open processes and thorough scrutiny of any changes to election technology. Still, there is no direct evidence so far that these updates caused or enabled vote miscounts.
The legal process is ongoing, with a court allowing discovery to proceed based on the seriousness of the allegations, but there has been no judicial finding of fraud or error at this stage. Smart Elections’ call for a full hand recount is a reasonable request for transparency, but until such a recount is conducted and independently verified, their conclusions about unfairness remain allegations rather than established facts.
Smart Elections raises legitimate transparency and accountability issues that deserve investigation, but their conclusions about the fairness of the 2024 elections are not yet substantiated by definitive evidence. The current claims justify further scrutiny, but do not, on their own, demonstrate systemic unfairness or fraud.
I have heard about some local elections, being cancelled for fall 2025.
In Florida or one of the Carolina’s, if memory serves me.
Not canceled, per se, as I understand it. The election schedule was adjusted to match up with the federal election cycle. There will be a one-year pause for their local elections. Yes, it appears as a power grab for an additional year--and I fear this period will be used to advance an unpopular agenda. I'm sure if a progressive party had the majority and this was proposed, the conservatives would be crying foul from the rooftops. I beleive the goal is to increase voter turnout for their local elections. Historically, a larger voter turnout typically swings progressive/liberal. In spite of the short-term effects, this may turn out to be a good thing in the long run. (Disclosure: I'm no political expert. Just some of my thoughts and observations). I do, however, share your concerns.