We've all had them, those desperate dreams. You're turning a doorknob, but the door won't open.

You scribble onto a page, but the ink just disappears. You walk through a maze that never seems to

end. You are helpless against impossible odds. No impact, no ability to change the circumstance, no matter how hard you try. Throughout history

and across the world, this has been the case with so many elections in so many nations. But this is

no Freudian influence. This is the conscious work of authoritarian leaders pulling at the puppet

strings, swinging the vote

as they see fit, the dire consequences of rigged elections.

You are listening to American History Hit. Nice to have you here. I'm Don Wildman.

Every week, I get word from my producer, Sophie, that will be doing this or that episode on historical subjects far and wide.

They're all fascinating, full of learning, best part of the job. But there are those subjects that bear direct relevance to what's in the news today, and that's always cool.

This is such an episode.

Back in 2018, an important book was released.

It was entitled How to Rig an Election, and it was published in the aftermath of so much that was coming out about the 2016 contest that brought Donald Trump to power,

the news about foreign interference in the election, new ideas to most Americans like Russian bots,

cyber security measures, and clandestine social media-based influencing operations,

all this lingo from alarmed officials in the federal government warning us that new platforms like TikTok and Facebook and others had suddenly made our election

process porous and accessible to enemies and allies alike, seeking to influence our democratic

process. Our phones and our computers, so much a part of our lives,

have finally enabled mass accessibility to the electorate. In those dark days, we understood

that we were being played. It was a new twist on an old and sinister game, electoral fraud,

traditionally played by despotic regimes, voter intimidation, vote buying, ballot manipulation,

ballot box stuffing, to name but a few. To remain in power, corrupt leaders have an authoritarian

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