President-elect Donald Trump and his Republican allies had been sowing doubt in the American voting systems for months in preparation for the 2024 election. Despite making unsubstantiated claims of cheating in Philadelphia and Detroit, Trump’s tone quickly changed as early returns began to tip in his favor on election night. This messaging pivot aligns with a playbook strategy to preemptively claim widespread cheating but disregard these claims in the event of a win. Many Trump supporters had highlighted supposed evidence of fraud leading up to the election but stopped once it became clear that Trump was in the lead.
Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in 2020 led to four years of him doubling down on the false notion that the election was stolen, successfully convincing more than half of Republicans that Biden was not legitimately elected. Trump’s reaction to his loss contrasted with his swift acceptance of victory in the most recent election, showcasing a troubling precedent where the legitimacy of the entire electoral system is questioned based on the outcome of a race. While it is not uncommon for candidates to focus on claims of fraud when they lose, Trump’s actions, including his involvement in the Capitol attack, stand out as unprecedented in American history.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris conceded the election and pledged to assist Trump with a peaceful transfer of power, emphasizing the importance of accepting election results in American democracy. Despite calls for recounts and unsubstantiated suspicions of the outcome on social media platforms, there is no path to the presidency for Harris. Some right-leaning election skeptics remain unconvinced of the election’s fairness, with claims that the 2020 election was rigged and attempts made to rig the 2024 election. Speculations on how a potential Trump administration would reform U.S. elections, including discarding voting machines for paper ballots, raise concerns of increased costs, errors, and time intensiveness.
Election officials emphasize the importance of maintaining trust in the integrity of the electoral process, with the absence of fraud allegations in Trump’s victory speech being seen as a positive development. The potential for reduced targeting and violence towards election officials following Trump’s acceptance of the election results is viewed as a step in the right direction. While there are discussions of election reforms, including hand-counting paper ballots, the current system already has a paper record for nearly every ballot. The shift towards belief in the integrity of elections, especially from influential leaders like Trump, is seen as essential in maintaining democracy and preventing potential threats to election officials.
