Indeed, the US presidential election is a joke on various levels.

1. The president is not picked based on the people’s vote. The US is a republic, not a democracy, where government officials cast the deciding votes.

2. The voting infrastructure can be easily tampered with, likely by design as pointed out above.

3. There is no limits on campaign spending, enabling billionaires and corporations to own the winning candidates that got the most airtime.

4. Two private entities have a duopoly on the presidency. They’ve established rules that prevent any new parties from serious consideration.

5. As surfaced by the Wikileaks DNC dump, at least one (if not both) of these parties actively sabotage some of their candidates to ensure the party’s pick a spot in the final national election.