Has an Election Ever Been Rigged in U.S. History?

Related Link Law Professor Recounts U.S. Disputed Elections

Heading into Wednesday night’s third and final presidential debate, Republican candidate Donald Trump continues to warn his supporters that the election on Nov. 8 could be “rigged”—a claim he has made with no specific evidence, and that has been rebutted by everyone from President Obama to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to experts like the commissioner of the federal Election Assistance Commission.

Those refutations hinge largely on the fact that there is no evidence that rigging the election is even a possibility. And it goes even deeper than that: Experts say that in all of American history, there has not been a single instance of a presidential election being truly rigged.

That doesn’t mean there has never been a rigged election, period. It has happened—but, despite Trump’s rhetoric, those who study the history say it is less likely to happen in 2016 than before.