Thread by @beckerdavidj

THREAD. In 2016, Jill Stein and anti-Trump activists alleged without evidence that voting machines were hacked, and that Trump couldn't possibly have won. In 2020, the president and his supporters are making the same baseless claims. Both are 100% false. /1

Regardless of the outcome, I and many others have consistently pointed out that the 2016 election was secure, and the 2020 election was even more secure. Many anti-Trump activists were critical of these statements, and now their baseless claims are being used by Trump himself. /2

We can be sure that Trump won the presidency in 2016, and even more sure that he lost it in 2020. There are some things that are the same in 2020 as in 2016, and even more things that are different, as we have significantly improved election security in the last four years. /3

IN BOTH 2016 AND 2020:

- Voting machines are used in states that Trump won, and in states he lost.

- A majority (75%) of votes are on paper ballots, which can't be altered by hacking. /4

IN BOTH 2016 AND 2020:

- Margins are somewhat narrow, but beyond the margin a recount could possibly overturn.

- Both winning candidates won 306 electoral votes, by secure margins in the states. Three states would need to change to change the results. /5

DIFFERENCES/IMPROVEMENTS IN 2020:

- States without paper ballots in 2016 have moved to paper, incl. GA, PA, SC, VA.

- Now ~95% of ballots are auditable paper, compared to 75% in 2016.

- More states are auditing those ballots than ever, incl. GA, MI, PA, and many others. /6

DIFFERENCES/IMPROVEMENTS IN 2020:

- @DHSgov @CISAgov are coordinating with state and local election officials and voting machine vendors to ensure security.

- A new org, the EI-ISAC, facilitates information sharing among election officials about potential threats. /7

DIFFERENCES/IMPROVEMENTS IN 2020:

- There's been more transparency than ever, with observers in all vote counting centers, and 24/7 live-streaming of vote counting.

- The presidential outcome is more consistent with pre-election polling. /8

DIFFERENCES/IMPROVEMENTS IN 2020:

- Biden won the popular vote by more than 5M, where Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 by nearly 3M votes.

- Biden has significantly larger margins in states like MI and PA than Trump enjoyed in 2016. /9

It's predictable, if unfortunate, that Trump is now parroting false claims made by his opponents in 2016, but that doesn't make those claims more true. /10

As a bipartisan group of election off'ls stated yesterday, and as published by @CISAgov, "The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.... There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised." /END