--- description: These claims serve "only to undermine confidence in our democratic processes" title: Former President Jimmy Carter Says Claims of Rigged Election Are 'Baseless' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc13413cca8cbc485/6988aacbcf40a851b4c453c6/jimmy-carter-president-integrity-elections-rigging-baseless-democracy-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Former President Jimmy Carter Says Claims of a Rigged Election Are 'Baseless' by [Abigail Abrams](/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 20, 2016 2:52 PM CUT  President Jimmy Carter presents Trisha Yearwood (not pictured) with the Voice of Music Award during the 53rd annual ASCAP Country Music awards at the Omni Hotel on Nov. 2, 2015 in Nashville. President Jimmy Carter presents Trisha Yearwood (not pictured) with the Voice of Music Award during the 53rd annual ASCAP Country Music awards at the Omni Hotel on Nov. 2, 2015 in Nashville.Michael Loccisano—Getty Images by [Abigail Abrams](/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 20, 2016 2:52 PM CUT Former President Jimmy Carter said Wednesday that claims the U.S. elections will be rigged are “baseless” and undermine American democracy. “The Carter Center has observed more than 100 elections around the world, some of them quite problematic,” the former president released [a statement](https://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/us-elections-101916.html "undefined") through The Carter Center, the human rights organization he founded after leaving the White House. “However, allegations of potential rigging of U.S. elections, as well as of widespread voter fraud, are baseless, serving only to undermine confidence in our democratic processes and inflame tensions.” Carter did not specifically mention Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims that the election will be rigged against him. Trump doubled down on this idea during Wednesday’s presidential debate when [he refused to commit](http://time.com/4538015/presidential-debate-donald-trump-election/?xid=homepage "undefined") to accepting the outcome of the Nov. 8 election. The Carter Center said in its statement that it “has great confidence in the overall administrative integrity of U.S. elections” and that many [checks and balances](http://time.com/4535364/donald-trump-rigged-election-fact-check/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") help keep the system fair. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4538392/jimmy-carter-rigged-election-baseless/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4538392/jimmy-carter-rigged-election-baseless/"},"headline":"Former President Jimmy Carter Says Claims of a Rigged Election Are 'Baseless'","datePublished":"2016-10-20T14:52:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:18:15.586Z","description":"These claims serve \"only to undermine confidence in our democratic processes\"","url":"https://time.com/4538392/jimmy-carter-rigged-election-baseless/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Donald Trump","Jimmy Carter"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc13413cca8cbc485/6988aacbcf40a851b4c453c6/jimmy-carter-president-integrity-elections-rigging-baseless-democracy-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc13413cca8cbc485/6988aacbcf40a851b4c453c6/jimmy-carter-president-integrity-elections-rigging-baseless-democracy-white-house.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"53rd Annual ASCAP Country Music Awards - Inside","caption":"53rd Annual ASCAP Country Music Awards - Inside","creditText":"Michael Loccisano—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4538392/jimmy-carter-rigged-election-baseless/","name":"Former President Jimmy Carter Says Claims of a Rigged Election Are 'Baseless'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Obama Told Donald Trump to ‘Stop Whining’ About Elections","description":"President Obama delivered a series of subdued attacks against Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump, who he told to “stop whining” about the unsubstantiated claims that the election will be rigged in a press conference Tuesday.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Qa0odyfJ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-10-18T17:05:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Qa0odyfJ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4538392/jimmy-carter-rigged-election-baseless/","duration":"PT2M3S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4538392/jimmy-carter-rigged-election-baseless/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```