Most Democrats agree that the 2001 election was stolen from Al Gore. In 2005, I wrote an award-winning article for Rolling Stone showing how the deceptive use of Diebold voting machines in six Ohio counties constituted massive and consequential election fraud, possibly stealing the victory from John Kerry. In 2016, Hillary Clinton complained that election fraud had derailed her path to victory. And in 2016 and 2020, Bernie Sanders supporters felt that the election had been rigged against their candidate. Many of Donald Trump supporters rightly or wrongly believe that the 2020 election was also stolen.

It serves no point to keep arguing over the integrity of past elections. The important thing, that we can all agree on, is the project of implementing an impervious and trustworthy election system.

How hard can it be? Los Vegas’s whole gambling industry depends on counting machines that never make mistakes. There are ATM machines on every city corner that never give you more money than you ask for. As a world leader in technology, I am sure we can create a voting system that people can trust.

Without 100% transparent and accurate elections, there will always be a fundamental doubt about whether elections actually embody the people’s will. When votes are tabulated by hidden algorithms inside black boxes, inaccessible to third-party verification, there will always be questions and doubts. #Kennedy24