A terrifying thought/ election rigging
I generally laugh at conspiracy theories- especially as of late, as the plots and scenarios bandied about by Trump and his fringe have become steadily more bizarre. It seems like you can't read a single article without reference to vast conspiracies to rig the election and prevent Trump from winning (as if he needed any outside help to prevent himself from winning.)
That being said, as the rhetoric from Trump around election-rigging has become increasingly unhinged, rather than being amused, I have become troubled in recent days. In discussions with friends and relatives, we've talked about the reasons why Trump is so keen on setting the stage for claiming a rigged election this early in the process- and why he doesn't seem to care that it makes him and his followers seem like tinfoil hat wearing loons. Most everyone seems to believe that it is simply down to a) his ego/ saving face when he loses, and b) whipping his base into action to ensure they show up at the polls. However, a deeply disturbing possibility occurred to me, pulling together a scenario that fits a little too well for me to disregard outright.
Consider: the more the right-wing Trump brigade shouts "rigged," the more we a) consider them paranoid and ignorant, and b) emphatically and publicly say that our elections are fair and that the kind of widespread voter-fraud that he claims is occurring has not been found to exist. The Democratic Party has been very proactive in that stance to ward off what the most likely result from the election will be- that is, allegations of rigging from Trump following a landslide win for Hillary. But.... what if- WHAT IF all of this "rigged" nonsense is a setup? Meaning, it's been very effectively demonstrated how easy it is to hack voting machines. And Trump's friends, the Russians, have shown both a willingness and aptitude for toying with/ hacking into our political systems. What if this is all a setup so that Hillary/ the Democratic Party cannot say a thing when Russia hacks voting results to give Trump the win? I mean- how could she/they? They've spend so much time vociferously defending our elections as fair- how exactly could she/they mount a defense in the face of something like that, when they've just spent the last month painting any allegations of rigging as fringe lunacy?
And yes, I am fully aware that I now sound like the foaming-at-the-mouth conspiracy theorist, but instead of looking for an echo-chamber of validation, I would much prefer the collective intelligence around here to tell me exactly why I'm wrong.
Please tell me I'm wrong. Please tell me this can't be true. Please tell me I am completely nuts. Because the alternative is horrifying.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I've been worried too. Trump projects what he does onto Hillary/Democrats. Thus, I worry the Russians are working to hack into our voting systems (where possible) to overturn this election.
Seriously...I'm worried. 
:
: I don't have any answers as to what people are supposed to do beyond going about life as per usual, which does include voting. Not sure where you got from my original post that I was advocating any particular action, let alone one as abhorrent as not voting.