A snap judgment of a stranger's face, formed in a fraction of a second with zero other information, measurably predicts real-world outcomes far beyond what should be possible from appearance alone — most strikingly, actual election results. This isn't a claim that voters are choosing based purely on looks in some obviously conscious way; it's a claim that a fast, automatic facial impression exerts real influence on judgment that operates largely beneath conscious deliberation, layered on top of whatever policy reasoning a voter believes is driving their choice.
Understanding this is less about distrusting elections specifically and more about recognizing how much weight a rapid, unverified first impression can carry in any evaluative decision — hiring, dating, trusting a stranger — well before any actual substantive information has been considered.