Election Rigging: Just a Conspiracy Theory?
Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this interview.
During the primary season, Bernie Sanders supporters suggested that the American political process was "rigged," and now Donald Trump and his backers are contending the same.
The history of such claims extend beyond this current cycle. In 2000, many Democrats believed George W. Bush had stolen the election. Twelve years later, it was the Republicans crying foul.
In the U.S., the closest thing rigging the political process might be the electoral college. Our system of winner-take-all state-by-state tallying means that a candidate only needs to worry about a few closely divided states to win.
Joe Uscinski, a political science professor at University of Miami and co-author of "American Conspiracy Theories," examines the electoral college, and what a rigged election actually looks like. Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear our full conversation.
