This famous paraphrase is attributed to tyrants from Napoléon Bonaparte (1769–1821)1 to Joseph Stalin (1879–1953)2. In dictatorships, elites hold onto power by kidnapping, torturing, and murdering opponents. In socalled democracies, there are a million ways to prevent the masses from taking control: from propaganda and corporate lobbying to disproportional representation and boundary changes that favour certain candidates. Echoing Stalin and Napoléon, the New York Democratic manager, William Boss Tweed (1823–78) conceded in an election: The ballots made no result; the counters made the result.3
An overlooked tool of democracy suppression is making the electorate cast ballots on digital machines vulnerable to malfunction, hacking, and tampering. Recent controversies highlight their anti-democratic characteristics and make Boss Tweed's maxim easier for politicians of all stripes to implement.
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