I think quite possibly most elections in the world are crooked. Again, at least in the past there is evidence of it, and you have to assume more get away with it than you catch. I think that it is sound risk management to assume that elections are compromised.

If they were doing anything to make them better, I'd feel better about it. But they're actively making them less secure.

It's probably not "they" and "them" doing it. I think distributed ballot stuffing is more likely. It's nearly impossible to catch. Again unless you implement some kind of ballot security which is not happening.