Attention, Democrats: There’s no good evidence the election was rigged

Before the election, when Democrats were dismissing the idea of rigging an election when it was raised (repeatedly) by Trump and his allies, we outlined just how difficult such a proposal would be. For one thing, one would need to know in advance where to rig the vote in order to have the most effect. For example: In 2000, you would have needed to know that the margins in Florida were razor thin, and to have put just enough resources into the state to tip the scales without tipping your hand. That sort of prognostication is far, far easier in retrospect.

That’s the thing about Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The polls in Wisconsin in particular were far from the mark, meaning that ne’er-do-wells looking to affect the results would be less likely to target the state. Why rig the vote in a place where Clinton’s up by 6 points?

As Vox’s Andrew Prokop writes, the results across the Midwest were surprising — but consistent. As it turns out, it would have been weirder for Wisconsin to have gone for Clinton by six points while losing Iowa by 10, tying in Michigan, losing Ohio by eight and winning Minnesota by only a little more than a point. All of those states use different balloting systems, administered locally, making the likelihood of a widespread hack even smaller.

Sherman’s article didn’t provide robust new evidence that the election was hacked. What it did was provide logical justification for thinking the election was hacked. It gave stressed-out Democrats something concrete at which they could point to say, this, this is why Clinton lost the election.