For those wondering about the consequences of President Trump's efforts to sow distrust in voting and elections, here's a pretty significant one: It will help states sustain new restrictions on voting if they choose to implement them.

That's so because states don't need to prove they're combating fraud to justify voting restrictions. They don't really need to prove there's fraud at all. It's often enough to show they're addressing the public's fear of fraud and trying to create confidence in elections.

And the president's tactics -- and the utterly delusional conspiracies spreading online and on some of his favored TV channels -- have certainly worked. A third of voters think there was "a lot" of fraud in this election. Nearly all of Trump's supporters do. (From @YouGov.)

The people who are lying now to sow distrust in elections can turn around later and lament that people don't trust elections, and that'll help them win in court.