American Historian Lindsay Chervinsky joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about the history of US Elections. Can the President cancel or postpone an election? Why do midterms usually end up with the party of the current president losing? Why are US elections held on a Tuesday in November? Answers to these questions and many more await on US Election History Support.
WIRED recommends:
Watch more from WIRED | Tech Support:
#Election #Midterms #USElection
00:00 – US Election History Support
00:13 – Glaciers move faster than a US campaign cycle
01:00 – The Electoral College: an 18th-century group-project democracy
01:54 – If you can’t beat ’em, redraw ’em
02:45 – Just slayed the ballot. AMA.
03:42 – The Tuesday after the first Monday in November…
04:04 – …because it’s convenient.
04:55 – They’re making a list, they’re checking it twice
05:38 – F!@# it, we ball(ot)
06:16 – The ultimate bipartisan struggle
07:09 – Two strikes and you’re out
07:55 – Nixon vs. JFK’s jawline
08:57 – 35th birthday ✅ eligibility for nuclear codes ✅
09:33 – STOP THE RECOUNT!
10:37 – Ronald Reagan’s mic drop
11:24 – The White House’s vibe check
11:53 – No voting, no complaining
12:29 – Democrats ❌ Republicans ❌ None of the above ✅
13:36 – Currently on day four of Election Tuesday
14:19 – 270 is just a number, right?!
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@jakerummy
October 20, 2026 at 7:17 pm
And Reagan’s first electoral victory against Carter was influenced by his direct undermining of Carter’s administration in addressing the Iran Hostage Crisis by illegally reaching out to Iran and convincing them to hold off on releasing the hostages until after the election to help Reagan. Then of course there was Iran-Contra, and Reagan added a second instance of committing treason to his resume.
@tomfooleryhandle
October 20, 2026 at 7:24 pm
Pretty adorable people think trump can’t do things, he will just do it anyways like he has with everything, for literally decades
@taylorsilver2566
October 20, 2026 at 7:25 pm
5:17 I’m sorry, drumpft became president twice. Your voting checks are not ‘safe’.
@fashionistaandpink
October 20, 2026 at 7:35 pm
the truth of the matter is it really doesn’t matter if something is illegal or not, a convicted criminal is in charge, we are literally in unprecedented times.
@pokerphil1st
October 20, 2026 at 7:38 pm
The only times America gets a decent President, they shoot him.
@pepuletrz
October 20, 2026 at 7:42 pm
please vote..
@gb6644
October 20, 2026 at 7:51 pm
The if you don’t vote you don’t get to complain comment was BS, but otherwise a great episode.
@DigitalDesignAndInnovation
October 20, 2026 at 7:55 pm
That last thing she said is confusing… Territories and DC dont get a vote..? It sounded like she was saying they do. (I know territories and DC have representatives that don’t vote on legislature but don’t know why she brought them up here)
@DanielVerberne
October 20, 2026 at 8:03 pm
America, the fact that your voting is optional is, I think; a fatal flaw. It is FAR better to suffer some small loss of ‘liberty’ and be required to participate in one’s representative democracy than it is to have to rely on politicians throwing out ‘red meat’ and big spending to ‘get the vote out’. Mandatory voting tends to draw a nation’s politics in a particular direction – the centre. That means it’s a moderating force and arguably gives voters far more of an active stake in their representation. Yes, some voters are more ignorant of the details than others, but again I’ve argue that because we HAVE to vote, we are all incentivised to have some modicum of awareness of our options; lest we act like Turkeys voting in favour of Christmas.
@sovereignbot
October 20, 2026 at 8:03 pm
at 6:00 im surprised she said “some experts think paper ballot…..” and goes on to suggest that paper ballot is “safe” and completely ignored that certain blockchains, similar to the one being used in West Virginia is 100000% safer and allows for a perfect record that can always be verified. maybe she wasnt fully informed
@EhNothing
October 20, 2026 at 8:05 pm
Not voting because your job doesn’t have schedule flexibility is absolutely NOT an excuse. There’s early voting for weeks before election day. There’s mail in ballot voting that’s completely asynchronous. There is NO excuse.
@RavenLee-w7r
October 20, 2026 at 8:10 pm
1:54 not really all that difficult. she lays out how right here. those with privilege are less interested in changing the system though bc it works for them in the sense of greed. they can’t imagine a better world and hate the notion of it being better for everyone.
@DanielVerberne
October 20, 2026 at 8:11 pm
I’m shocked by the number of answers to questions hearken back centuries to the ‘founding fathers’. In most modern countries we’ve long-since jettisoned older ideas in favour of newer ones, as circumstances and ‘mores’ change. In America you seem to have an almost worshipful stance towards your founding fathers and your founding documents. I wonder whether this puts some of those ideas in a sort of stasis, where there is less appetite to revisit and modernise these ideas. As many a comedian have noted, the constitution can be changed (albeit with the high-bar requirements) – they’re called amendments for a reason.
As for voting on a ‘Tuesday’, voting should ideally occur on weekends. Also, there should be ZERO barriers for ANY worker in taking time off to attend voting – this should be just as ‘sacred’ as First Amendment free speech. The moment any worker (especially a young person) feels there is ANY barrier in their employment situation towards stepping out to involve themselves in their own representational democracy is the moment when your democracy is weakened.
@skunkjulio
October 20, 2026 at 8:14 pm
Yay Lindsay’s back! Thanks for doing this again!
@jamesv.7041
October 20, 2026 at 8:17 pm
Young people are also more ignorant, factually.
@cpdukes1
October 20, 2026 at 8:19 pm
Lying and cheating could be political speech. The SC would no doubt stand behind that freedom. They might even practice what they preach.
@IronWolf123
October 20, 2026 at 8:31 pm
What happens if there is a tie between the 50 representatives?
@Eequals
October 20, 2026 at 8:32 pm
“If you dont vote, you cant complain” give me a break. If all the candidates are garbage, im not giving them my vote. They still control my money and life. I personally am paying their salary with my fellow countrymen. If they take my money, i can complain. Im not going to flip a coin to choose between hitler and mao. That statement needs to be removed until there is actually a way to trully vote for someone other than the wealth sponsored dem and rep candidates. Ie the same people that bash someone during a primary then end up as their vice president
@Eequals
October 20, 2026 at 8:33 pm
Well, working countrymen not free money countrymen
@jamesv.7041
October 20, 2026 at 8:33 pm
This expert did a good job staying nonpartisan, especially when compared to other experts that have been on Wired.
This is particularly impressive given the subject matter, whereas other experts make their personal biases and viewpoints known on completely apolitical subjects.
@sgeine
October 20, 2026 at 8:52 pm
They didn’t “squish in” the electoral college. There was extensive debate and theorising on how to make the govt representative of the majority of the states instead of the majority of the people. The solution our founding fathers came up with was ingenious.
@d.d.vignali4419
October 20, 2026 at 9:02 pm
Wired really capitilising on the upcoming midterms hype.
@jdkgcp
October 20, 2026 at 9:06 pm
My biggest issue with the election process is the whole “every vote counts” mantra when that is completely false. Because OF the electoral college the public vote aka “popular vote” is completely meaningless. Even worse is that nobody seems to really care about that “minor” detail.
@aihf
October 20, 2026 at 9:07 pm
“A third party president is possible if we do these 47 impossible things first.”
Cool. Thanks.
@michaellwalker8748
October 20, 2026 at 9:24 pm
So, we could do better but won’t. Got it.😊
@spiralflame88
October 20, 2026 at 9:26 pm
Republicans got so fed up with how popular Franklin D. Roosevelt was that they had to introduce a new Amendment. They were so worried about another potential FDR in the future that they had to add a two-term limit for presidents. Republicans are so pathetic.
@PUke_sTaIN
October 21, 2026 at 4:15 pm
Im calling BS on her assertion that some amendments are more important than others. ALL of the amendments are EQUALLY important as they address different issues.
@tartnouveau3652
October 21, 2026 at 4:15 pm
I mean I think we’ve learned he can do anything if congress and the supreme court let him
@jesse6344
October 21, 2026 at 4:30 pm
She left out one really important point about the electoral college.
During the debates about the constitution, the southern states were worried that a direct vote for president would always result in a northern president. The white population of the north (voters) was significantly greater than the white population of the south.
In order to placate the southern states and get them to ratify the constitution the electoral college was formed and slaves were counted as two thirds human. This maneuver increased the electoral votes in the south to be on par with northern states.
The electoral college is a remnant of slavery and should be abolished.
@presto668
October 21, 2026 at 7:40 pm
Bingo.
@bkcalvine
October 21, 2026 at 4:33 pm
She’s so impressive. She doesn’t even say Um like the rest of us buffoons
@a0flj0
October 21, 2026 at 4:39 pm
Trump may not be able to cancel or postpone elections, but he is in a very good position to ignore the new Congress. He has placed his yes-men in all key positions of force. Whatever is decided by courts or Congress, it’s worthless if the police, the national guard and the army refuse to act upon it.
@sslaytor
October 21, 2026 at 4:56 pm
If you don’t vote you do have the right to complain – its called freedom of speech!. The ballot would be improved if there was an option for “none of the above”. If you don’t like ANY candidates you should be able to vote for none. What if none started winning?
@GoogleSucks-w7o
October 21, 2026 at 5:03 pm
Right, except none of that theory matters anymore at all, does it?
@kira_draws_and_digs
October 21, 2026 at 5:04 pm
I wish someone as knowledgeable (and seemingly quite independent-thinking) would answer the questions about Canadian elections.
@89Ayten
October 21, 2026 at 5:07 pm
Chalking everything up as highly unlikely to happen ‘at this point’ as it concerns constitutional amendments means this experiment as largely run its course. The world belongs to the living.
@SantaDaddy1
October 21, 2026 at 5:19 pm
Most people don’t understand the electoral college what / why / how it exists- which is why most people don’t appreciate the value of the electoral college vis-a-vis direct popular vote for president
@presto668
October 21, 2026 at 7:36 pm
It exists because of slavery and it has no value. Glad I could help.
@maxanluulnaxam1102
October 21, 2026 at 5:26 pm
Obviously, this is propagander!
@maxanluulnaxam1102
October 21, 2026 at 5:33 pm
Americans, vote for policy. Not the cult of personality.
@ChingusWing
October 21, 2026 at 6:14 pm
You left out who the governor of Florida was at the time of the stolen election in 2000.
@PatrickSmith
October 21, 2026 at 6:52 pm
Rules don’t matter to trump. He takes action and lets the SC decide long after the destruction is done.
@arokh72
October 21, 2026 at 7:14 pm
Here in Australia we vote on a Saturday. There is a tradition, slowly dying too it seems, of the “Democratic Sausage”. As many of our polling places are schools, sometimes the school, or another organisation, holds a BBQ for votes, for the purposes of fundraising. It makes for a nice community atmosphere, depending on location, and as voting is compulsory, they have a captive audience. Gerrymandering is illegal here, and our electoral boundaries, in a simple sense, are population based, so each electorate has roughly the same amount of population. As you can imagine this means country and remote electorates are huge vs city based electorates.
@TommyCrosby
October 21, 2026 at 7:18 pm
3:14 “can’t take time off for the election”
Another example of good laws we have in Canada. Employers must allow 3 hours to an employee on election day to go vote without pay penalty/reduction.
@mirthenary
October 21, 2026 at 7:37 pm
Whaaaaaat? The democrats invented gerrymandering? What a shocker…. _not._
@landshark1215
October 21, 2026 at 7:51 pm
The electoral college should be abolished, along with allowing state legislatures to set up congressional districts. As a Wayne Dawkins said, gerrymandering is politicians picking their voters, not voters picking their politicians
@madrapperdave
October 21, 2026 at 8:25 pm
wether he can or can’t legally is beside the point. He has shown that he doesn’t care and as yet nobody has stood up to him. Take care decent Americans. I fear for your future.
@chrisgrammar
October 21, 2026 at 8:25 pm
Please explain to me how our election system protects against fraud with mail in ballots. There is a fundamental flaw, and it cannot be resolved, and that is the principle that one can never connect a ballot to the individual voter. There has to be a process that breaks the audit chain or the privacy of your ballot would be violated so a mail ballot is returned to the polling station. There is a signature on the outside of the ballot, and that signature is checked. how closely and accurately it’s checked is debatable then the envelope and the ballot are separated permanently. The ballot is then run through the machine. The system is ripe for fraud.
@cylonred8902
October 21, 2026 at 8:36 pm
Limited to 2 terms – till the Supreme Court created an effctive king. 🙁
@aktuellyattee8265
October 21, 2026 at 8:36 pm
I wish the president –could– *_WOULD_* abolish elections and rule for life as a hereditary autocrat.
@oldmanwinter63
October 21, 2026 at 8:46 pm
I wish someone had asked about rank choice voting.
@Nurichiri
October 21, 2026 at 9:04 pm
You can vote before Election Day. For instance in Illinois early voting begins in late September. It’s only at a few places, comparatively, and likely not at your assigned place but you can go to what places are available.
@danwaters303
October 21, 2026 at 9:04 pm
The most depressing part of this video is how calmly and blandly the host describes the disastrous consequences of a twisted political system bound by an aged constitution and entrenched power. At what point will Americans demand change through violence? I’m guessing it’s only a matter of time.
@WreckItRayy
October 22, 2026 at 6:38 am
“our elections are very safe” meanwhile votes in Tennessee are being changed in front of voters eyes to candidates they did not select
@agustinbarquero8898
October 22, 2026 at 7:19 am
That didn’t happen, by the way. ❤
@onenote6619
October 22, 2026 at 7:15 am
The problem with legal redress in the current USA is that the administration keeps ignoring legal rulings and there are no penalties for doing so.
@DemonEyes23
October 22, 2026 at 9:28 am
2:15 it’s difficult to prove either. We live in 2026. The way we group votes by districts and then by state in a winner take all fashion is unnecessary and needs to go. 1 person, 1 vote counted equally regardless of the state they live in.
@DemonEyes23
October 22, 2026 at 9:35 am
6:40 sorry this feels inaccurate. While you can claim there is technically a way our system would not result in two parties, given the way people act it’s a virtual guarantee you’d end up with a two party system. Without ranked voting or some other system for people to create vying factions, the end result will always eventually be two parties. This has been proven both in real life and via mathematics
@psfilmsbob
October 22, 2026 at 9:50 am
Employers are required in most states to allow their employees time to vote, with many requiring it to be PAID time off, too.
@ChrisMcC90
October 22, 2026 at 9:55 am
For all you idiots who read the thumbnail and came straight here… No, obviously he can’t you retards.
@alanpitkin411
October 22, 2026 at 10:22 am
A king or dictator can
@abdc168
October 22, 2026 at 10:55 am
0:45 it takes so long because propaganda needs to be distributed, along with the money to fund it.
@Jrofosho
October 22, 2026 at 11:30 am
Only in Ukraine.
@CJ-ep7tg
October 22, 2026 at 11:49 am
no modern technology should be implemented in voting until all the boomers are out of office. it would be like your grandma getting scammed X1000
@thisisnootnoots
October 22, 2026 at 11:50 am
5:00 *laughs in Australian/United Kingdom*
@DariusAlexanderMusic
October 22, 2026 at 12:50 pm
wow so much gaslighting.
@Truthteller34696
October 22, 2026 at 1:09 pm
Can the president cancel the election? No, but Trump is going to. Sadly he is a dictator and this is no longer a democratic republic.
@amberfreeland7561
October 22, 2026 at 1:17 pm
I saw this great analogy the other day:
If ten people are on a bus and 3 vote to drive off a cliff and 2 vote to stay on the road, all ten people are going off the cliff.
@DogsRulePeopleDont
October 22, 2026 at 1:23 pm
The people who really need to hear this are either too dumb or too indoctrinated to receive it. Solid presentation though ✌️
@DeepCuts101
October 22, 2026 at 1:27 pm
On the Nixon debate – voters who watched on television weren’t impressed with Nixon at all, but the huge radio audience overwhelmingly felt Nixon won the debate.
@Trackstar159
October 22, 2026 at 2:56 pm
So yes, Bush and the Republicans stole the election lol. This country would absolutely let Hitler run for president if he could
@spekenbonen72
October 22, 2026 at 3:16 pm
The real question is ” who will stop him?”
You guys are royally f’ed
@drhibas
October 22, 2026 at 3:23 pm
Florida mess in 2000 really set America off in the wrong direction. Followed by a black President the closet racists went nuts and the rest is present day misery.
@pointblank1206
October 22, 2026 at 3:37 pm
The Constitution was designed to evolve. And yes amendment process was designed to be hard. 1:16
@Anonymous98766-e
October 22, 2026 at 5:19 pm
You’re not supposed to incite an insurrection, steal classified documents and start a war without congressional approval but here we are…..
@donnamaitlandw7460
October 22, 2026 at 5:22 pm
No.
@KManXPressTheU
October 22, 2026 at 7:22 pm
The Answer: NO, He cannot
@user9b2
October 22, 2026 at 8:36 pm
Since trump controls congress, he controls the elections, therefore the answer is yes, trump can cancel the election.
@jwatt247
October 22, 2026 at 9:06 pm
Tell me George W Bush stole the election without telling me he stole the election.
@VexylObby
October 22, 2026 at 10:40 pm
It’s wild to think that the most human made tragedies in my country in my lifetime, have all been caused by Republican presidents. Why are we letting these people run?
@Eariosa
October 22, 2026 at 11:16 pm
Why not make a law of modern interpretation, keep the principle. Adapt to the times
@crobinson2624
October 23, 2026 at 1:12 am
I think one of the biggest problems is that political parties don’t nominate and choose their presidential candidate- which is pretty much the de facto leader of the party until roughly 3 to 4 months prior to the general election and so the entire process of presidential candidates and touring the nation typically takes place a full year before the nominees is chosen, so the entire process seems to take two years. I believe it would be ideal if presidential candidates were chosen during midterms, and that would give the nominees plenty of time to test their leadership, develop policies and build up their presidential credentials before the actual general election. In which the official campaign would start three months to election day. Not to mention there needs to be spending limits on presidential campaigns. It should not cost $1 billion to run for president of the United States.
@notavailable5216
October 23, 2026 at 1:35 am
Just remember. All the deliberation they put into crafting the constitution only applied to white, Protestant men. No one else considered
@rc100usa
October 23, 2026 at 1:59 am
It’s ironic that the Electoral College is the problem that it was created to prevent.
@fare-5174
October 23, 2026 at 5:46 am
When Tropico is run better than the US, the world has problems.
@TrueD3ath
October 23, 2026 at 7:46 am
Younger generations don’t care about elections. Generally. It just isn’t on their radar at all. Maybe now it is, but historically, it isn’t.
@calvincoolidge5943
October 23, 2026 at 8:04 am
Brakuje tematu Wojny Dwóch Róż na yt
@gilescrawford845
October 23, 2026 at 8:22 am
How can we rid US politics of billionaire interference and self-interest to safeguard precious democracy once and for all?
@michaeljohnangel6359
October 23, 2026 at 8:44 am
She didn’t answer the question “why do American elections take so long?”: she just pushed the question back. All other countries take a tiny fraction of the time that America does, and voting is very easy in them. In some countries – notably Australia – it is required by law that every citizen votes.
@Briskwarrior
October 23, 2026 at 9:51 am
It’s not a matter if he can or can’t, it’s a matter of what he believes he can do and Americans allowed Trump to believe he is above the law
@firstclasspropertiesgroup8124
October 23, 2026 at 10:00 am
What you failed to realize…He does whatever he wants and he has bootlickers to help him do it.
@marxmith
October 23, 2026 at 10:12 am
She’s like a cute version of Blossom.
@somethingwicked2558
October 23, 2026 at 11:49 am
She said a couple of things which were not entirely true. One comment was even delusional. Other than that, I enjoyed this very much
@I_report_scammers_spammers
October 23, 2026 at 2:34 pm
He can do whatever TF he wants because his Supreme Court lets him.
@mattharrelson7462
October 23, 2026 at 2:42 pm
Did someone let Trump know about how little election fraud there is? I dont think he got the memo over the last decade
@esava44
October 23, 2026 at 3:04 pm
LOL.
@augurseer
October 23, 2026 at 3:09 pm
You should 100% expect he will try. Be prepared
@esava44
October 23, 2026 at 3:10 pm
Online voting is a very very very very bad idea.
@esava44
October 23, 2026 at 3:20 pm
Primaries don’t matter for federal elections. So you r point about states needing to pass a bill to change the system is dumb. 3rd Parties or Independent parties don’t need to go through a party controlled primary in each state. A 3rd party could win only if the Federal Government changes the debate rules. That’s where it could happen.
This lady has been wrong on many aspects. What a rough video to sit through.
@josephkondrat6478
October 23, 2026 at 3:27 pm
Elections are run by the states not the Federal Government.
@richchappell
October 23, 2026 at 4:50 pm
It’s funny that someone asked why we don’t just vote online, partially because I used to ask the same thing. Now that I’ve worked in IT for 25+ years and been a poll worker a few times in Arizona, I don’t want online voting. In fact, when I heard about the recent issues in Tennessee with screen-based voting, my first thought was “how stupid does your state have to be to conduct voting without a paper ballot?” How else can you properly audit the results? I’ll say this as an IT guy… don’t trust computers.
@2200-MeliMeli
October 23, 2026 at 7:30 pm
voting should change to a Sunday or Saturday. all the farms have been bought up no one does that anymore
@patrickpatterson4292
October 23, 2026 at 7:31 pm
Democrats introduced a bill to outlaw gerrymandering. Every republican voted “no.”
@epicchocolate1866
October 23, 2026 at 9:28 pm
Ehh the democrats are just as guilty, they know it’s not going to pass, perhaps they don’t want it to
@shoullin1761
October 23, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Reagan was a piece of crap. I’ll die on that hill
@robertbaldwin711
October 23, 2026 at 9:29 pm
I really hate the “if you don’t vote, you shouldn’t complain” mantra; there are plenty of people who have political opinions different than whatever the majority is and feel their voices do not matter. For example, there are plenty of progressive people in Alabama who are absolutely drowned out by the rest of the state. Their votes, at almost every level of government can and do feel like a waste. They also have every right to complain.
@Kilgore_Trout_jr
October 23, 2026 at 9:54 pm
I don’t have to watch this. The answer is NO! States run elections. Presidents don’t have executive powers over states. It’s called a republic. No kings or overlords. Governors and state constitutions.
@notasandworm
October 23, 2026 at 11:11 pm
2 party system is why.
@literallynull
October 24, 2026 at 12:28 am
10:00 fun fact: the designer of this ballot used to be flight attendant for a saudi billionare who was a close friend with Jeffrey Epstein and the Bush family
@jamesgleeson6538
October 24, 2026 at 3:16 am
In Australia we had almost 90 percent in general election. USA ONLY HAD 65.PERCENT. Something is not working in USA.
@LuftWafflesOP
October 24, 2026 at 10:09 am
If voting mattered they would never let you do it.
@ShihTzuPosting
October 24, 2026 at 6:05 pm
Billionaires literally spend billions of dollars (and in Trumps case, tax payers dollars) to influence elections. They would do that and they wouldn’t fight over voting rights if your vote didn’t matter.
@LuftWafflesOP
October 25, 2026 at 3:04 am
@ShihTzuPosting It matters to them, but it doesn’t make a difference. Either you get screwed by the people in blue or you get screwed by the people in red. each side will spend billions to be the ones doing the screwing, but in the end that doesn’t matter much to us.
@Junhao-f4e
October 24, 2026 at 11:58 am
I have seen some suggesting mandatory voting to increase participation, but it would be unconstitutional, right?
@EricCummings-p5t1u
October 24, 2026 at 4:17 pm
You are wrong in so many ways. This is speculation and/or what should happen. History has shown that does not translate well or to be true. It’s up to the courts to rule on it. If Courts rule that Feds can, then the feds can. Look at Lochner era for proof, or 1800 or 1860. If you want heavy proof look at history.
@philipbundy2245
October 24, 2026 at 5:08 pm
It’s funny that gerrymandering suddenly becomes unpopular when the republicans start playing the games that democrats have been doing for decades.
@ShihTzuPosting
October 24, 2026 at 6:01 pm
Please Google which party has tried to end gerrymandering and who votes to protect it. Of course both sides will do it while it’s legal but only one party tries to stop it and only one party pushed back civil rights laws to enable more gerrymandering.
@marybelliotti894
October 24, 2026 at 5:10 pm
Obviously, what Trump CAN DO and what he does are 2 different things.
@headtheballington
October 24, 2026 at 5:39 pm
I think that growing up without hope, is a huge part of why a lot of young people don’t vote.
@headtheballington
October 24, 2026 at 5:40 pm
The electoral college is like political pseudo science.
@kilroy987
October 24, 2026 at 5:43 pm
Don’t give him any ideas.
@JohnRandomness105
October 24, 2026 at 6:03 pm
9:50 IIRC, the butterfly ballot gave around 3000 Jewish votes to Buchanan. I counted six things at the time that caused George W. Bush to get a very slim majority in the initial count. If any one of them had gone right, Al Gore would have received more votes in Florida. Also, how much effect did the Brook Brothers Riot have on the outcome?
14:00 This sounds too much like primaries these days.
@cgrice1971
October 24, 2026 at 6:20 pm
Completely flawed, broken system
@TheErikBallew
October 24, 2026 at 6:59 pm
The real question is. Why aren’t the checks and balances checking and balancing????????
@greybeard5123
October 24, 2026 at 7:28 pm
In regards to the question “Can the President cancel or postpone an election?” The Electoral College votes in mid December (in presidential election years). Congress counts the Electoral College votes in early January. Can the president cancel or postpone that counting? Before 2025, I would have said no. But in 2025, Trump proved that the answer is yes when he delayed that counting and tried to cancel it. No only has he not suffered any repercussions for that act, he was elected to the presidency again.
So, can the president cancel or postpone an election? Maybe. There is no legal means for him to do so, but that hasn’t stopped this administration in the past.
@ResistanceForever
October 24, 2026 at 8:32 pm
Mfs asking questions google can answer in 5 sec.
@anathardayaldar
October 24, 2026 at 9:58 pm
Tiktok has turned young adults off of voting.
@LettermanShow
October 25, 2026 at 12:37 am
The Electoral College exists for the same philosophical reason that the Senate and the House of Representatives are structurally different.
@gregrtodd
October 25, 2026 at 3:08 am
Congress passing a bill for the convenience of farmers, 175 years ago, is not a good reason why the US still has their elections on a Tuesday. Make it a Saturday (like Australia). Then every public elementary school can become a polling place. We have compulsory voting for elections almost every year (for either Local, State, or Federal), and in 45 years I’ve never had to wait more than a couple of minutes to cast my vote. You guys could be doing this SO MUCH BETTER…
@bigtobacco1098
October 25, 2026 at 7:41 am
Blue hype 😅😅😅
@elsboom
October 25, 2026 at 2:16 pm
just like listening to presidential historian doris kerns goodwin, i could listen to this woman all day long….
@PokéSSJ
October 25, 2026 at 5:59 pm
Electoral college is the stupidest thing ever
@4zp4ETxH
October 26, 2026 at 7:57 am
Now I know who was paying attention in my civics class. 😂
@OfficialAshArcher
October 26, 2026 at 8:12 am
Would love to visit all of the presidential libraries… must be some fascinating information in them
@Chiberia
October 26, 2026 at 8:27 am
why is the head of a non profit for a museum the expert chosen for this topic…?
@Desasteroid
October 26, 2026 at 10:19 am
Don’t give him ideas.
@ILoveGrilledCheese
October 26, 2026 at 10:55 am
Not to be that guy but… if you do vote you don’t get to complain because you contributed to the current state of affairs by voting someone into power. People who don’t vote are the only people with a “right” to complain.
@jerosa07
October 26, 2026 at 11:17 am
There is one party in modern history that has proposed banning gerrymandering more than once, and the other party has blocked it….Guess which party does want to ban gerrymandering and which party does not??
@massive-annoyance
October 27, 2026 at 10:56 am
🐘: in favor of keeping gerrymandering
🐴: in favor of getting rid of it
@xRagnarok05x
October 26, 2026 at 11:54 am
If the electorial college has to stay we really need to get rid of the winner take all system. Then every vote really will matter.
@ChrisTopher-wl6pd
October 26, 2026 at 1:20 pm
We need ranked choice voting
@nickscuderi371
October 26, 2026 at 2:29 pm
“if you dont vote, you dont get to complain” so if you dont vote because both candidates support genocide, you cant complain about them? seems a little unfair but okay
@hipsabad
October 26, 2026 at 2:30 pm
adjusting the chairs on the Titanic comes to mind. This purple eyeshadowed, complacently prim Mount Vernon simp is not the one to go to if you can smell a crisis ahead. Cf. Tad Stoermer
@hipsabad
October 26, 2026 at 3:02 pm
the debate in 1960 along with 20 minutes of corporately sponsored evening ‘news’ was the beginning of the process of dummification at the hands of that “prosthesis of lies, the press.” Cf. Karl Kraus
@hipsabad
October 26, 2026 at 3:06 pm
@ 10:37 she forgot to add: and 21st century history would’ve started and gone in a different direction. Millions would still be alive and the US would not be so far behind China in the race for renewable technology
@hipsabad
October 26, 2026 at 3:08 pm
senile plut tool Ronnie Raygun, especially as caricatured in the idiotic enabling media, was the beginning of the end
@hipsabad
October 26, 2026 at 3:12 pm
the grinning @ 11:44 should make everyone frightened! Of both the collective lack of political acumen and at the rotten electoral systems she is cheerfully blathering about
@hipsabad
October 26, 2026 at 3:16 pm
@ 14:53 there ya have it kids; the ultimate non-democratic gerrymandering; brought to you by dead plantation owners
@OGMikeGyver
October 26, 2026 at 3:32 pm
Good stuff! Thank you!
@RTX-1280-Ti
October 27, 2026 at 4:59 pm
Nixon didn’t have a beard though
@rajamicitrenti
October 27, 2026 at 10:30 pm
Disappointed that two of these questions implies that there is only 1 single day you can vote, but this expert did not rebut this by pointing out early voting existing in (as far as I know) every state for at least a week.
@WoofAanDeStoof
October 28, 2026 at 12:16 pm
Wait… in the USA you can’t even get a day off to vote??? I know a lot of people are against mandatory voting, but at least give people the chance to go vote? It seems like a very logical step for someone malicious to just have the workers, that seem to support the “wrong” political party, be scheduled on the day(s) of election?
@CBDuRietz
October 28, 2026 at 5:58 pm
So, what happens if there’s a tie in the House of Representatives, i.e. 25-25?
@ChuckRagland
October 29, 2026 at 12:13 am
The reason for the electoral college is, if you just did the popular vote, then only maybe the top 10 most popular states would control everything, and the other 40 less popular states would have no say whatsoever. Let’s say you’re in Delaware, what you would want wouldn’t matter, because you wouldn’t have enough votes to do anything.
@Shorty_Lickens
October 29, 2026 at 5:41 am
He can, because he routinely ignored the law and literally no one has made an effort to stop him.
@ImaginationUser
October 29, 2026 at 7:42 am
A lot of stupid solutions and utter nonsense in the USA electoral system. Young country – dumb country.
@TheDrewfallin
October 29, 2026 at 11:52 am
My biggest question is why do we not have the winner be president and the next winner be the VP? Would give the third party more of a chance.
@andrewtaylor1610
October 29, 2026 at 1:22 pm
What legitimate need would a President have for canceling or postponing an election? Surely they would only do it if it benefitted them. Otherwise, why bother?