Election Time

When I started in journalism, I wanted to cover politics. I got a degree in political science, volunteered on some campaigns, and applied for jobs at the New Republic, the National Review, The New Yorker, The Nation, even the Village Voice. None of them hired me. So I took a job with Mobile Computing Magazine, which led me, eventually, to PC Magazine. The tech beat has worked out pretty well for me, but sometimes I still miss being part of our civic conversations. Fortunately for me, the worlds of technology and politics are always running into each other.

In September, we dug into the self-driving car revolution, a development that will profoundly reshape our cities, our economy, and our lives. Then last month, we explained how important encryption technology is to the modern digital world—a reality that is in direct conflict with law enforcement priorities. We've even covered how robots will put us all out of work, and soon. The common thread running through all these stories is that technology is transforming our world.

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For those of us who earn our living in air-conditioned offices commenting on the transition, these are fascinating and exciting times. The old world is dying. But it's not at all happy about that.

If you want to see the old world in its death throes, look at the crowd at a Donald Trump rally. There are no policy positions here. The crowd is shouting because our country looks, works, and acts differently from when they were kids. Some of that old world was also voting for Bernie Sanders, because he acknowledged that the raising minimum wage was more important that lowering capital gains taxes. And the old world is terrified of Hillary Clinton—in part anyway—because she represents more of the same; the same being more change.

By its nature, technology is neither good or bad, but it can be incredibly political. Right now, Uber, Lift, Juno, and traditional cab companies are all competing to keep drivers on the road. And in 10 years, all of those jobs will be gone—replaced by driverless cars. I expect you'll see those drivers in the crowd the next time a Trump or Bernie candidate runs for office. Until then, we'll keep covering the transition. At least until the robots come for our jobs as well.

One thing we won't be doing in this issue is endorsing a candidate. It is certainly tempting, and there are lots of technology issues we could touch on to justify the coverage: cyber defense, WikiLeaks, immigration, email servers, and the uncanny ability of microphones to record the words coming out of your mouth. It could be fun, but it wouldn't tell you anything you don't already know. And it wouldn't change anyone's mind. So let's skip it. You know who to vote for. Just make sure you make the time to do it.

Instead, we focused on who's trying to steal the 2016 presidential election. There are two theories: One involves a conspiracy between the mainstream media, urban voters, and thousands of local electoral commissions across the country, and the other suggests a foreign autocrat with a personal vendetta who directed his security forces to steal the login credentials of a county clerk in Gila County, Arizona. Both of these scenarios are far-fetched, but there is evidence that shows the latter actually happened. We chose to follow that story.

In this month's cover story, Chloe Albanesius digs into who is trying to rig the election, how they're doing it, and thankfully, why it's destined to fail. Let me just say that I've been a fan of electronic voting, but I'm a little relieved that no voting booths are hooked up to the Internet.

Read all about who's trying to hack your vote in the November issue of the PC Magazine Digital Edition, available now via Apple iTunes.