It’s a numbers game. Whether it’s golf, cribbage, or accounting, life is a numbers game. Gaming the numbers is not the same thing, it is the act of using numbers or cooking the books to obtain an outcome.
“The numbers don’t lie” is a commonly accepted phrase. While numbers may be honest, often people are not. Mendacious math is at the heart of politics, be it polling, budgeting, or spending. Numbers are numbing.
Let’s get a little numb.
US presidential election results since 2000 as reported by Britannica.com.
2000 Bush vs. Gore 101,447,491 votes cast. Bush, 50 million votes.
2004 Bush vs. Kerry 121,069,054 votes cast. Bush, 62 million votes.
2008 McCain vs. Obama 129,446,839 votes cast. Obama, 69 million votes.
2012 Romney vs. Obama 126,849,299 votes cast. Obama, 65 million votes.
2016 Trump vs. Clinton 128,838,342 votes cast. Trump, 63 million votes.
2020 Trump vs Biden 155,507,476 votes cast. Biden, 81 million votes.
2024 Trump vs. Harris 152,320,193 votes cast. Trump, 77 million votes.
Voter participation increased by approximately 20 million between 2000 and 2004 and again by 22 million between 2016 and 2020. These jumps in voter participation aren’t the statistical equivalent of punctuated equilibrium, a theory of evolution holding that evolutionary change tends to be characterized by lengthy periods of stability, or equilibrium, punctuated by episodes of extremely fast development.
The voter participation upticks were jagged, sudden changes that lack context and explanation.
Let’s focus on the 2020 election as it is anomalous in three distinct ways.
First, Trump gained 11 million votes from his 2016 victory (63 to 74 million) to 2020, an approximate 20% increase, yet lost the election. No sitting president has ever seen such an increase of this magnitude in voter support and lost his reelection bid.
In 2024, Trump increased his vote total to 77 million. In three consecutive elections he bettered his numbers. By comparison, Franklin Roosevelt received 22 million, 27 million, 27 million and then 25 million votes in his four winning presidential campaigns. Even the sainted Barak Obama lost votes in his reelection effort, going from 69 million in 2008 to 65 million votes in 2012.
Second, Joe Biden claimed the most votes ever cast for a presidential candidate. With his cadaverous countenance and incessant insensibility, the idea of his receiving this record number of votes is as absurd as his speeches. This is less about numbers and more about common sense and corruption.
Thirdly, the 2020 election occurred during the COVID state of emergency. The emergency wasn’t health related; it was Trump related.
Ballotpedia reports that during 2020 alone, “All told, 37 states modified their absentee/mail-in voting procedures for the general election.” More than two-thirds of states changed their election laws in 2020, a record never to be broken.
These laws did not make it harder to vote but instead were focused on making it “easier” to vote. These voter “access” expansion efforts centered on four areas as referenced by Ballotpedia.
Automatic absentee/mail-in ballots: Five states (California, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, and Vermont) automatically sent absentee/mail-in ballots to all eligible voters.
Automatic mail-in ballot applications: Eleven states (Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) automatically sent absentee/mail-in ballot applications to all eligible voters.
Eligibility expansions: Twelve states (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia) expanded absentee/mail-in voting eligibility.
Deadline extensions: Five states (Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania) extended absentee/mail-in ballot application or submission deadlines.
The “why” is simple to understand. Trump was a destabilizing force to the political status quo. He threatened traditional power brokers and their access to self-enrichment. Trump took the Republican Party from cowardice to courage, from punching bag to fighter and in so doing gave American voters an authentic choice, leaving Democrats battered and bruised.
The “why” is rooted in preferred outcomes. As Trump sought a second term, he was at war with enemies within his own party, the Democrats, and the media. Trump ran a re-election campaign against political elites in both parties and the legacy media, a coalition that wouldn’t surrender and weren’t interested in a fair fight.
The “how” is demonstrated by the plethora of 2020 election law changes. Changes intended to ensure an outcome.
Forget the word “fraud”, although there is evidence to support the claim. Ignore the idea of a “stolen” election and replace it with the word “orchestrated”. An election where the outcome was known before it occurred.
It’s easier to understand Democrat resistance to the SAVE act if you understand they support elections without rules and boundaries, the same way they prefer their borders.
A recent CNN poll reveals 83% percent of the country supports requiring ID to vote, including 71% of Democrat voters, yet elected Democrats fight it as if their very lives depend on it. They believe their political lives are at risk if elections are orderly, legal, and require voter ID. They do not fear disenfranchisement so much as defeat.
With the midterms rapidly approaching, we should reduce our confidence in numbers and replace them with strengthened voter laws, rules, and systems that support “free and fair” elections. The SAVE act is the needed first step to keep the fraudsters and con men out of our elections.
No less a philosopher than UFC flyweight champion Max Holloway said it best, “Numbers don’t lie. Women lie, men lie, but numbers don’t lie.” Except when they do.
Stephen Piccirillo © 2026
