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Stealing Elections, American Style
Stealing Elections, American Style tells the captivating history of voter suppression and outright stolen elections in the United States from the country's founding to the battle over voting rights today.
Nearly everyone has an opinion about election integrity and voting, but very few have more than an inkling of the truth about American elections. From stuffed ballot boxes to rigged elections, one of the country's premiere voting rights attorneys, David Walbert, brings unique clarity to these issues by combining fascinating stories about some of the country's most outlandish stolen elections with a clear explanation of how elections are frequently rigged in advance of a single vote being cast. Drawing from his experience litigating election cases, arguing before the Supreme Court, and teaching constitutional law, Walbert explains how Supreme Court decisions since the 1800s have often been the cause of voting inequality. Readers will gain a deep understanding of the voting issues of today-gerrymandering, voter suppression, fraud, voter ID requirements, and voter purges, among others-and what the future portends. They will also learn how we got into the morass we're in and how the future can be better.
Nearly everyone has an opinion about election integrity and voting, but very few have more than an inkling of the truth about American elections. From stuffed ballot boxes to rigged elections, one of the country's premiere voting rights attorneys, David Walbert, brings unique clarity to these issues by combining fascinating stories about some of the country's most outlandish stolen elections with a clear explanation of how elections are frequently rigged in advance of a single vote being cast. Drawing from his experience litigating election cases, arguing before the Supreme Court, and teaching constitutional law, Walbert explains how Supreme Court decisions since the 1800s have often been the cause of voting inequality. Readers will gain a deep understanding of the voting issues of today-gerrymandering, voter suppression, fraud, voter ID requirements, and voter purges, among others-and what the future portends. They will also learn how we got into the morass we're in and how the future can be better.
- GenresPolitics
240 pages, Hardcover
Published September 3, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book is an instructive and interesting look at the various ways that American elections have been rigged throughout history, both before and after the vote, to ensure a particular outcome. This practice has been going on for longer than most people realize and is successful. more often than it should be.
David Walbert is a highly respected constitutional lawyer who has been involved in some of the cases he discusses in the book. The chapters are arranged chronologically, starting with the disputed 1876 victory of Rutherford B. Hayes over Samuel Tilden, who had a majority of the electoral vote and was set to win a majority of the electoral votes until supporters of Hayes stuck their oar in. Other chapters include the well-known Bush-Gore and Trump-Biden controversies as well as less well-known cases involving Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter.
Other chapters look at strategies rather than individual elections, and cover topics like gerrymandering, voter suppression, and outright racism. The legal convolutions involved in some of these cases are almost beyond belief, and if a case gets to the Supreme Court, somehow the outcome seems to reflect the political majority on the court, often with yet more legal convolutions to ensure the desired outcome. The final chapter is entitled "The Next Stolen Election" and goes through some of the ways an election might not survive a Trump administration with no guardrails and a sympathetic Supreme Court. Things are going to get interesting in 2028, and this book is a brilliant guide to get you through it.
David Walbert is a highly respected constitutional lawyer who has been involved in some of the cases he discusses in the book. The chapters are arranged chronologically, starting with the disputed 1876 victory of Rutherford B. Hayes over Samuel Tilden, who had a majority of the electoral vote and was set to win a majority of the electoral votes until supporters of Hayes stuck their oar in. Other chapters include the well-known Bush-Gore and Trump-Biden controversies as well as less well-known cases involving Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter.
Other chapters look at strategies rather than individual elections, and cover topics like gerrymandering, voter suppression, and outright racism. The legal convolutions involved in some of these cases are almost beyond belief, and if a case gets to the Supreme Court, somehow the outcome seems to reflect the political majority on the court, often with yet more legal convolutions to ensure the desired outcome. The final chapter is entitled "The Next Stolen Election" and goes through some of the ways an election might not survive a Trump administration with no guardrails and a sympathetic Supreme Court. Things are going to get interesting in 2028, and this book is a brilliant guide to get you through it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
An interesting account of stolen elections in the US over the years. Election tampering is not a new phenomenon and David Walker discuss how elections were stolen or tampered with starting with Rutherford B. Hayes up to the current environment of gerrymandering, poor Supreme Court decisions and the current regimes attempts to tamper with the 2026/2028 elections. A worthwhile read.
October 1, 2026
A thoughtful history about attempts to steal elections in American history. And a warning about what the immediate future might hold with Trump willing to scream voter fraud and stolen election whenever the vote doesn’t go his way.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews