Some legitimate questions about voting, election practices | CPT PPP Coverage

First, the claim that Trump is lying when he says that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

A Rasmussen poll of likely voters conducted April 27 to May 2 showed that 62% of likely voters believe that it is very likely or somewhat likely that cheating affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

When these people and Trump say that the election was stolen, they’re speaking the truth as they see it. They may be wrong, but they are not lying.

Second, the question of whether the election was stolen.

The recent book “Debunked?” by Joseph Fried, a CPA, states that if an election includes significant mail-in voting, it is impossible to validate the election based on a mere recount, because a recount does not address whether ballots are valid.

Mail-in ballots are usually validated via signature matching, which is not a simple task (and which Fried states is the weakest method of validation).

Fried states that the only way to validate such an election is through a proper audit — one conducted by an independent, nonpartisan group.

It would include door-to-door canvassing of a statistically valid number of potential voters, access to all relevant documentation, and assessment of all inherent risks and internal control risks.

No such statewide audit was attempted for the 2020 presidential election. One was attempted at the county level — in Maricopa Country, Arizona — but was hamstrung.

So, the answer to the question “Was the 2020 presidential election stolen?” is “We don’t know.”