1 00:00:00,013 --> 00:00:02,066 If someone was looking to rig a major election, 2 00:00:02,066 --> 00:00:05,122 they probably would not want to start in the United States. 3 00:00:06,022 --> 00:00:10,050 That’s because the system we have for casting and counting ballots is extraordinarily 4 00:00:10,005 --> 00:00:11,077 difficult to tamper with. 5 00:00:12,022 --> 00:00:15,086 Because the constitution gives the states the primary authority to 6 00:00:15,086 --> 00:00:16,092 set their own election rules. 7 00:00:19,569 --> 00:00:23,605 So, the presidential election is really 51 separate elections. 8 00:00:23,929 --> 00:00:25,986 One for each state and the District of Columbia. 9 00:00:26,499 --> 00:00:31,970 And those 51 elections? They’re actually thousands of elections that are administered 10 00:00:31,097 --> 00:00:33,101 at the country or town level. 11 00:00:34,001 --> 00:00:38,078 This decentralized system makes it nearly impossible to “rig” an election in favor 12 00:00:38,078 --> 00:00:40,106 of one presidential candidate. 13 00:00:41,006 --> 00:00:46,018 In order to really influence the outcome, you’d have to to rig a whole lot of elections. 14 00:00:53,024 --> 00:00:56,088 The safeguards start even before you set foot in the voting booth. 15 00:00:56,088 --> 00:00:59,088 Because before you can vote, you need to register. 16 00:00:59,088 --> 00:01:03,727 You fill out a form with your name, signature, and identifying information, which is added 17 00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:07,603 to a giant list of all registered voters in your state. 18 00:01:08,036 --> 00:01:11,062 Those voter rolls are periodically checked for accuracy. 19 00:01:25,007 --> 00:01:27,091 On election day, you show up to your polling place. 20 00:01:28,054 --> 00:01:32,146 Depending on what state you live in, you might show the poll workers your ID, or sign a book, 21 00:01:33,046 --> 00:01:34,120 or state your name and address. 22 00:01:35,002 --> 00:01:40,004 Now, if someone wanted to try to vote more than once, or pretend to be somebody else, 23 00:01:40,229 --> 00:01:42,229 they’d have to convince the poll workers. 24 00:01:42,229 --> 00:01:46,420 Which is a risky strategy, because if they get caught, they’re looking at jail time 25 00:01:46,042 --> 00:01:47,094 and big fines. 26 00:01:54,066 --> 00:01:55,805 Depending on where you live, you’ll either 27 00:01:56,399 --> 00:02:00,463 vote using a paper ballot with an optical scanner, or what’s called a direct-recording 28 00:02:01,039 --> 00:02:04,044 electronic machine, or DRE for short. 29 00:02:04,054 --> 00:02:10,056 DREs are more vulnerable to hacking, but each machine is tested ahead of time by local election officials, 30 00:02:10,056 --> 00:02:15,070 who are supervised by local representatives from both political parties, then the machines 31 00:02:15,711 --> 00:02:18,670 are locked and sealed until election day. 32 00:02:18,067 --> 00:02:21,159 These machines aren’t connected to the internet, so if someone wanted to “hack” them, 33 00:02:22,059 --> 00:02:23,145 they’d have to break them open in person. 34 00:02:33,098 --> 00:02:37,186 Over 70% of Americans will vote with a paper ballot and an optical scanner 35 00:02:38,087 --> 00:02:41,112 which reads and adds your vote to its internal count. 36 00:02:42,012 --> 00:02:45,057 The scanner keeps your ballot, and lets you know your vote has been counted. 37 00:02:45,057 --> 00:02:49,111 After the polls close on election night, Both the DRE’s and the optical scanners 38 00:02:50,011 --> 00:02:53,055 print out multiple copies of their internal tallies. 39 00:02:53,055 --> 00:02:58,090 The poll workers — again, working in pairs, and overseen by poll watchers from both parties — 40 00:02:58,009 --> 00:03:00,088 count up the totals from each machine. 41 00:03:01,069 --> 00:03:05,153 The poll workers send the results to the county board of elections, who sends them on to the 42 00:03:06,053 --> 00:03:09,081 state board of elections, who reports them to the media. 43 00:03:09,081 --> 00:03:14,142 Even if someone did manage to mess up the reported totals, either on purpose or by accident, 44 00:03:15,042 --> 00:03:18,079 the printouts from the machines would prove them wrong. 45 00:03:18,079 --> 00:03:23,148 And many states conduct audits of random precincts, where they hand-count ballots or DRE receipts 46 00:03:24,048 --> 00:03:26,123 to verify that the machines counted them properly. 47 00:03:27,023 --> 00:03:32,047 To “rig” a presidential election, you would need to conspire with lots of people, 48 00:03:32,047 --> 00:03:36,136 from both political parties, who are willing to risk federal prison, or you would need 49 00:03:37,036 --> 00:03:42,038 the ability to break in and physically alter a ton of voting machines. 50 00:03:42,038 --> 00:03:47,042 Which might make a good movie plot, but it's extremely unlikely in real life.