Ask HN: Could you rig the US Elections?

Re:Ask HN: Could you rig the US Elections? by dekhn on Thursday August 18, 2022 @07:19PM (#32515986)

Sure... but that wouldn't be "rigging", that would be "working entirely within the existing legal framework of the US to gain majority control of the apparatus which implements updates to the legal framework". Note that redistricting and gerrymandering aren't always legal (they lead to court cases which sometimes override them). Also, you left out the supreme court- you could pack the supreme court (it's been done) which would allow you to avoid your legal changes being rolled back.

No, there aren't computational ways to achieve this. It's politics and people. In the past, one party has held extreme power but did not egregiously abuse it to remain in power.

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Re:Ask HN: Could you rig the US Elections? by AnimalMuppet on Thursday August 18, 2022 @07:30PM (#32516048)

Nit: If I understand correctly, "packing" refers to appointing more than 9 Supreme Court justices, which has not been done.

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Re:Ask HN: Could you rig the US Elections? by dekhn on Thursday August 18, 2022 @07:55PM (#32516218)

For some reason I conflated the fact there were more than 9 justices in the past with that being court-packing. Clearly, I misremember my social studies.

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Re:Ask HN: Could you rig the US Elections? by AnimalMuppet on Thursday August 18, 2022 @08:21PM (#32516380)

Wait, what? There were more than 9 justices in the past? When, and how many?

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Re:Ask HN: Could you rig the US Elections? by dekhn on Thursday August 18, 2022 @10:40PM (#32517140)

10 for a short period During the civil war if I read it correctly. For some reason I thought that either FDR or Wilson had packed the court with 12 justices. It was FDR who tried this but failed.

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