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Election Battleground State Changes

alex.github.io

21–30 of 93 posts

Re: Election Battleground State Changes

#21

Why do the estimated vote counts keep going up? Why has this process dragged on for days . Where do they keep losing ballots? Why isn't there a deadline? Why are only these states still counting? Great resource BTW!

> Why isn't there a deadline? there's a balance to be struck between counting every last mail-in ballot and concluding the election in a reasonable amount of time. it's probably worth erring in favor of counting everyone's constitutionally guaranteed right to vote, even if it means a week or two of nail biting over the outcome.

Why? This constant finding of ballots, along with the allegations of not being allowed to observe the counting by international election watching groups, and the withholding of counts (see AZ and NV), makes the process seem extremely opaque. This is what I expect of a 3rd world country, not America. It was not difficult to get your ballot in on time. They've been out for weeks.

Re: Election Battleground State Changes

#22

Why do the estimated vote counts keep going up? Why has this process dragged on for days . Where do they keep losing ballots? Why isn't there a deadline? Why are only these states still counting? Great resource BTW!

>Why has this process dragged on for days

>Where do they keep losing ballots?

Because a process that had never been trialed in many places was used at the national scale.

>Why isn't there a deadline?

There is for the ballots being mailed (varies by states). There isn't any practical deadline on counting as long as a good faith effort is being made. Realistically we're probably looking at recounts in several of the key states.

Re: Election Battleground State Changes

#23

Why do the estimated vote counts keep going up? Why has this process dragged on for days . Where do they keep losing ballots? Why isn't there a deadline? Why are only these states still counting? Great resource BTW!

I suspect most states are still counting, but no one is watching. California for example has 2-3 million to count!

Re: Election Battleground State Changes

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why isn't there a deadline? there's a balance to be struck between counting every last mail-in ballot and concluding the election in a reasonable amount of time. it's probably worth erring in favor of counting everyone's constitutionally guaranteed right to vote, even if it means a week or two of nail biting over the outcome.

Why? This constant finding of ballots, along with the allegations of not being allowed to observe the counting by international election watching groups, and the withholding of counts (see AZ and NV), makes the process seem extremely opaque. This is what I expect of a 3rd world country, not America. It was not difficult to get your ballot in on time. They've been out for weeks.

I knew the republicans in certain districts were making complaints about being denied access in ways that stretch what is plausible under incompetence alone but I didn't know any international groups were complaining. Can you provide a link?

Re: Election Battleground State Changes

#25

Why do the estimated vote counts keep going up? Why has this process dragged on for days . Where do they keep losing ballots? Why isn't there a deadline? Why are only these states still counting? Great resource BTW!

>Why has this process dragged on for days >Where do they keep losing ballots? Because a process that had never been trialed in many places was used at the national scale. >Why isn't there a deadline? There is for the ballots being mailed (varies by states). There isn't any practical deadline on counting as long as a good faith effort is being made. Realistically we're probably looking at recounts in several of the ke…

> Because a process that had never been trialed in many places was used at the national scale.

Sure, I get that, but didn't anyone foresee that this will call into question the legitimacy of the election.

To recap, both candidates have claimed victory at this point, despite no major media outlet calling enough electoral votes.

This could have been prevented by simply not changing things at the last minute. Instead, we've set the stage for an extremely contested, ugly election. There is no landslide, as everyone expected. This is the worst possible outcome.

Re: Election Battleground State Changes

#26

Why do the estimated vote counts keep going up? Why has this process dragged on for days . Where do they keep losing ballots? Why isn't there a deadline? Why are only these states still counting? Great resource BTW!

> Why do the estimated vote counts keep going up?

The same reason they are estimated counts in the first place, there's not hard counts of ballots before the, um, count of ballots.

> Why has this process dragged on for days.

Because its a manual process that normally takes days.

> Where do they keep losing ballots?

They don't, that's why the estimated numbers go up, not down.

> Why isn't there a deadline?

There is, both in federal and, usually sooner, in state law.

> Why are only these states still counting?

Only those states are still getting national attention, many states are still counting but once the result of the races of national interest were clear, no one outside of people interested in state races that might still be in doubt was paying attention.

Re: Election Battleground State Changes

#27

Why do the estimated vote counts keep going up? Why has this process dragged on for days . Where do they keep losing ballots? Why isn't there a deadline? Why are only these states still counting? Great resource BTW!

> Why are only these states still counting?

They aren't the only states still counting. They're just the only states where the further count can possibly change the winner.

Re: Election Battleground State Changes

#28

Why do the estimated vote counts keep going up? Why has this process dragged on for days . Where do they keep losing ballots? Why isn't there a deadline? Why are only these states still counting? Great resource BTW!

> Why do the estimated vote counts keep going up? The same reason they are estimated counts in the first place, there's not hard counts of ballots before the, um, count of ballots. > Why has this process dragged on for days. Because its a manual process that normally takes days. > Where do they keep losing ballots? They don't, that's why the estimated numbers go up, not down. > Why isn't there a deadline? There is, b…

In my home state of Oregon, ballot results are released pretty much immediately, because the ballot deadline for receipt is 8 pm on election day. The same was true of California when I lived there. Why are the rules suddenly changed? Did no one foresee that this would cause one of the worst elections in American history?

Re: Election Battleground State Changes

#29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Why has this process dragged on for days >Where do they keep losing ballots? Because a process that had never been trialed in many places was used at the national scale. >Why isn't there a deadline? There is for the ballots being mailed (varies by states). There isn't any practical deadline on counting as long as a good faith effort is being made. Realistically we're probably looking at recounts in several of the ke…

> Because a process that had never been trialed in many places was used at the national scale. Sure, I get that, but didn't anyone foresee that this will call into question the legitimacy of the election. To recap, both candidates have claimed victory at this point, despite no major media outlet calling enough electoral votes. This could have been prevented by simply not changing things at the last minute. Instead, w…

> but didn't anyone foresee that this will call into question the legitimacy of the election.

Those people were derided for questioning the legitimacy of the election.

Also some of the states were monumentally stupid in the way they designed their vote counting schemes regarding mail-in.

>There is no landslide, as everyone expected. This is the worst possible outcome.

I agree. A landslide in either direction leaves no doubts. Even if it was a mail-in landslide. An election of questionable legitimacy is how wars start. But that would be very in character for 2020.

Re: Election Battleground State Changes

#30

Why do the estimated vote counts keep going up? Why has this process dragged on for days . Where do they keep losing ballots? Why isn't there a deadline? Why are only these states still counting? Great resource BTW!

>Why has this process dragged on for days >Where do they keep losing ballots? Because a process that had never been trialed in many places was used at the national scale. >Why isn't there a deadline? There is for the ballots being mailed (varies by states). There isn't any practical deadline on counting as long as a good faith effort is being made. Realistically we're probably looking at recounts in several of the ke…

I believe there is a deadline for states to certify the results (which is generally weeks out, I think), and the electoral college votes in December so that also imposes a hard national deadline.
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