When something pops up in the news, on Twitter, Facebook or even (ugh) Gab claiming or teasing findings based on data I believe it’s more important than ever to reply with some polite text and a `#showmethedata` hashtag. We desperately needed it this year and we’re absolutely going to need it in 2017 and beyond.

The catalyst for this is a recent [New Yorker story](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/11/activists-urge-hillary-clinton-to-challenge-election-results.html) about “computer scientists” playing off of heated election emotions and making claims in a non-public, partisan meeting with no release of data to the public or to independent, non-partisan groups with credible, ethical data analysis teams.

I believe agents of parties in power and agents of the parties who want to be in power are going to be misusing, abusing and fabricating data at a velocity and volume we’ve not seen before. If you care about the truth (the real truth, not a “necessary truth” based on an agenda) and are a capable data-worker it’s nigh your civic duty to keep in check those that are want to deceive.

**UPDATE** 2016-11-23 10:30:00 EST

Haderman has an (ugh) [Medium post](https://medium.com/@jhalderm/want-to-know-if-the-election-was-hacked-look-at-the-ballots-c61a6113b0ba#.vvcd9bguw) (ugh for using Medium vs the post content) and, as usual, the media causes more controversy than necessary. He has the best intentions and future confidentiality, integrity and availability of our electoral infrastructure at heart.