Power Grid Goes Down

Are you going to watch the election?” Maria asked. She was cleaning up the evening dishes. “I want to see who won before I go to work.”

“Is that tonight?” The television was playing some telenovela that Maria liked to watch. Juan had been on his cell phone, taking care of some issue for work.

“Ay, guau!” Maria’s expression of surprise was meant to tease. “All this talk about your first election, and you don’t even know what day it is?”

Juan laughed and aimed the remote at the TV, changing the channel to Univision.

The Univision studio had been transformed into an “Election Headquarters” complete with large screens and maps displaying the incoming election results. The anchors talked excitedly about exit polls and early results. The race was still too close to call, but it was clear that it was shaping up to be a great night for Donald Trump.

“I’ve got to go.” Maria placed some leftovers in her lunchpail. “If they get done before you go to bed, text me and let me know who won, OK?”

Juan promised, kissed her, and walked her to the door.

“Oh, wait a minute," Maria said. They were beginning to call the states in the Eastern time zones. Kentucky came in for Trump, followed by Vermont and Georgia, with resounding wins for Biden.

Maria looked at her watch. "It's early. I can stay and watch a little longer."

Virginia came in with a narrow win for Biden, and the anchors were going wild speculating on the significance of that development. They were watching South Carolina numbers creeping up when breaking news interrupted the broadcast.

“Good evening. I'm Fabian Rodriguez, and this is Breaking News Tonight on Univision. Our top story is that allegations of election fraud are being leveled across the nation in the aftermath of an apparent cyber attack that has shut down the power grid in several swing states."

“Let's bring in Jake Sommers," the news anchor said, introducing a prosecutor from the local US Attorney's Office. Mr. Sommers, weren't these same accusations of misconduct proven to be completely false in the 2020 election?"

“The fact that Joe Biden is so far ahead in these early exit polls is the essential point, Fabian," Sommers responded to the correspondent in smooth, fluent Spanish. "What we at the US Attorney's Office are suggesting is that a massive fraud is taking place right before our eyes. So tonight, despite Boiden's commanding lead across the nation, we are predicting that there will be a last-minute shift in all the swing states later tonight that will result in a final tally in favor of Donald Trump."

The commentator nodded gravely, “You are making a bombshell allegation, Mr. Sommers. Are you willing to stand behind such a serious accusation?”

“Not only will I stand behind that prediction, Fabian, but I'll make it even more specific. We will see that tally swing within minutes of the power being restored."

The Univision anchor’s mouth hung open. He needed a prompt from his earbud to resume the conversation. “That’s a ridiculous assertion,” he said, abandoning all semblance of professionalism. “How can you possibly claim to know that?”

“Because the machines must be calibrated to deliver a narrow win for the Republicans while the power is off," Sommers turned directly towards the camera with an icy stare. "Those changes must appear shortly after the power is restored."

Satisfied that his questions had been answered, the anchor attempted to move the story forward. “There you have it, once again, our national elections will be plagued with specious accusations of election interference.”

More breaking news came in. A breathless reporter appeared on the screen. "Good evening, Fabian. Gloria Alred here with a breaking development. In a dramatic shift in the election results in several key swing states, late voting numbers are coming in powerfully for President Trump. What was looking like a Trump blowout has now become an extremely tight race. While still too early to call, it appears Trump may have eked out a narrow lead of 50% to Biden's 49%."

The camera panned back to the studio, where Sommers glowered, “They’ve stolen the election.”