I think it's partly an artifact of the US being a Union, so it's more like the EU elections in many ways (a jump in the graph is a bit like Sunderland East declaring), and the state result is like our national result, and then the federal result.
Not really - you're right that each county counts separately, but each update is a tranche of votes from a particular county, not the whole total.
This election was particularly unusual in that the mail votes skewed very heavily Democratic (Trump was telling all his supporters to vote in person. Dems were encouraging mail votes.) and different states have different rules about when they can count mail votes, and so those votes showed up at different stages of the count in different states.
In Canada there are two counts. I have served as a Deputy Returning Officer three times and a poll clerk twice. The DRO opens the ballot box for the poll after voting has ended and conducts an initial count. This in turn is phoned into the riding's returning office and reported to a data officer, whose computer provides the poll-by-poll results to the media through the internet. The DRO then fills out the poll report.
Communication with the outside while the initial count is underway is not permitted. Each poll has at most 450 voters.
The final count is done several days later by the riding's Returning Officer and is used to verify the DRO's report. The Returning Officer's second count is official and is published forthwith in the Canada Gazette and provided to the Chief Electoral Officer, who provides it to the Clerk of the House.
Until a few years ago, they used to have a national tally room in Canberra set up, with big boards with all the results coming in. It made for great TV, as this clip shows.
Re increased security for Biden and other candidates:
I'm glad he's got it, sad he needs it (beyond the usual candidate security). And I hope Kamala gets it, too--possibly more, because there will be people who hate her because she's a woman and a person of color.
I hope that *someone* is keeping a close eye on T for signs of a) likelihood to hurt other people; and b) likelihood to hurt himself. He's put everything into making this work; into getting what (for him) is the ultimate personal fulfillment and emotional nutrition; into avoiding prison, bankruptcy, loss of assets and property; etc.
And how many of the people around him (family included) would stay around him, help him get help, tell him he matters?
He's been becoming something like a singularity. I know little about singularities in astronomy/astrophysics; but I did some skimming online to at least attempt to point in the direction of what I mean. (If you feel the need to laugh at me, kindly do it privately in a pillow. )
And, as mentioned, there is the Naked Singularity, a type of singularity which is not hidden behind an event horizon. These were first discovered in 1991 by Shapiro and Teukolsky using computer simulations of a rotating plane of dust that indicated that General Relativity might allow for “naked” singularities.
In this case, what actually transpires within a black hole (i.e. its singularity) would be visible. Such a singularity would theoretically be what existed prior to the Big Bang. The key word here is theoretical, as it remains a mystery what these objects would look like.
IMVHO, T has been condensing and devolving/decaying in front of us. What might he do if he loses the election and his whole palace of cards comes down?
Will he collapse into being a black hole? Will he (try to) take everyone else with him?
In France, the count doesn't start until the polls close. At that point national media gives a projection, which I think comes from exit poll data. The people inside counting the votes must not be informed of this.* It's the reason it can be a bit difficult to find enough volunteers to count the second round of a presidential election (the people actually in the polling station opening the envelopes are the only ones who don't know the result).
*This means no TV or radio inside the polling station, although I don't know how they stop people finding out via their smartphones these days.
Barnabas62Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host, Epiphanies Host
Georgia will recount but is looking safer for Biden. He has a lead of over 7 thousand now.
Arizona now looks as though it will drop into the recount zone but the trends have become less favourable for Trump. It looks to be close at the end of the count but Biden seems more likely now to be leading at that point.
The count has slowed in Pennsylvania and there are lots outstanding still. Biden’s majority will move out of the recount zone of less than 0.5% sometime tomorrow. At 29k it is already at 0.4% On trends it will be a big surprise if that majority isn’t at least doubled at the end of the count.
Nevada appears to have no clear recount percentage rule.
The votes have moved significantly in Biden’s favour. I’d be surprised if the mainstream media decision desks don’t call the race for Biden sometime today (7 November).
The only such Trump-meltdown that would worry me is one involving the nuclear codes, and personally I don't see that as a likely possibility. Contrary to the prediction that he would go on a warmongering spree to up his game on the campaign trail, he doesn't seem to have much interest in using the killing-power of the state to advance his personal interests(*).
I think his ego would be much better massaged by quitting the job(and yes, being semi-forced out would appeal to his martyr complex), and then positioning himself as a shadow-president, blasting away against Biden and any Republicans who refuse to acknowledge his continued greatness, via twitter or maybe a podcast featuring Roseanne Barr and Kanye West as perennial guests.
(*) And no, I don't think that makes him a saint or a great humanitarian, just a very average person. Which has basically been my theory of the guy from very early on.
I think his ego would be much better massaged by quitting the job(and yes, being semi-forced out would appeal to his martyr complex), and then positioning himself as a shadow-president, blasting away against Biden and any Republicans who refuse to acknowledge his continued greatness, via twitter or maybe a podcast featuring Roseanne Barr and Kanye West as perennial guests.
The issue with that is that under Twitter’s policies, he’d be banned pretty quick, so that platform would be lost to him. The only reason he’s not been banned is because he holds a high ranking public office. Take that away, and he would have already been banned. link.
I'm puzzled that they're still waiting for the votes from service personnel. Surely the military, of all people, should be able to organise for votes to be cast by a certain time, collect them in and get them back to the USA swiftly using the MPS?
I'm puzzled that they're still waiting for the votes from service personnel. Surely the military, of all people, should be able to organise for votes to be cast by a certain time, collect them in and get them back to the USA swiftly using the MPS?
They're reliant on the states each mailing them out in good time, and presumably military post is only delivered to bases to any personnel on missions away from base won't get them until they return. Not sure what the arrangements are for ships at sea, whether their mail gets helicoptered in and out or whether they have to wait until they make port.
In France, the count doesn't start until the polls close. At that point national media gives a projection, which I think comes from exit poll data. The people inside counting the votes must not be informed of this.* It's the reason it can be a bit difficult to find enough volunteers to count the second round of a presidential election (the people actually in the polling station opening the envelopes are the only ones who don't know the result).
*This means no TV or radio inside the polling station, although I don't know how they stop people finding out via their smartphones these days.
WARNING: This is a long post for electoral nerds.
I have been a party scrutineer at many Australian state and federal elections, which occur on a Saturday to maximise attendance. The booth [polling station] presiding officer seals the ballot boxes at the beginning of polling day and scrutineers sign off on that. At the close of the poll, the boxes are unsealed in the booth, again under the observation of scrutineers. The booth is locked, and as in France there is no outside contact for the duration of the initial count.
We then observe the count, usually of the lower house of parliament, as that's where our governments are formed. We must not touch the ballot papers, but can be quite close to the counting tables and are permitted to challenge papers which are set aside for later scrutiny. We also observe which candidate is coming second - remember that Australian voting is preferential, and an early leader can often be overtaken if not receiving an absolute majority. Our area is a safe Labor seat, so the scrutiny is fairly friendly, but in closely-contested marginals it can be intense.
At the conclusion of the initial count, the scrutineers usually leave the booth, to report to their party's electorate campaign HQ on the figures. These are in turn reported to the overall party campaign HQ, which means that the parties often have an idea as to the flow of votes before the Electoral Commission. The presiding officer will ring these initial figures through to the local office of the Commission, who then enter the data for immediate upload to the tally centre.
The presiding officer, once satisfied that the number of ballot papers issued tallies with those in the count, and if not has had the wastebaskets and anywhere else searched, secures the papers and transports them to the local office of the Electoral Commission, where the check count and distribution of preferences [if no candidate achieves an absolute majority] occur. Note that the preferential system of voting eliminates the need for runoff polls.
Early votes and postal votes are only counted after the close of polls. Postal votes must be postmarked ne later than polling day, and are allowed several days afterwards to be delivered.
My wife has been a presiding officer in large booths of about 2000 voters. After a 7am start, it's usually about 1.30am before she gets home after a 6.00pm close of polls. On one occasion, she threatened to eject two State MPs [both of them personal acquaintances of ours] from the booth for over-aggressive scrutineering. She has also had to prevent a voter from leaving the booth with ballot papers in hand.
I think his ego would be much better massaged by quitting the job(and yes, being semi-forced out would appeal to his martyr complex), and then positioning himself as a shadow-president, blasting away against Biden and any Republicans who refuse to acknowledge his continued greatness, via twitter or maybe a podcast featuring Roseanne Barr and Kanye West as perennial guests.
The issue with that is that under Twitter’s policies, he’d be banned pretty quick, so that platform would be lost to him. The only reason he’s not been banned is because he holds a high ranking public office. Take that away, and he would have already been banned. link.
Well, okay, but in the world of 2020s media technology, I'm sure he can find some way to get his message out.
Like I say, a podcast would work. Or, considering that about half the electorate voted for him and a good chunk of them probably think he's personally a god(as opposed to people who will just vote for any Republican), I'm sure a network somewhere would be happy to give him another reality show.
TONIGHT ON NBC!
THE COMEBACK!
HE'S DOWN BUT HE'S NOT OUT!
Trump: I'm not gonna let them take my country away from me!
WATCH DONALD TRUMP CHOOSE CAMPAIGN STAFF FOR HIS NEXT RUN AT THE WHITE HOUSE!
The Trump personal brand is now seen as toxic by most of the Republucan hierarchy (Lindsay Graham excepted). They can see the damage done to the GOP by DT over the past 3 days and have too great a regard for their own skins to risk it again.
Trumpism? I think they're stuck with it for a while at least because these are the people who turned out for the party and to whom many owe their seat in Senate or Congress - a bit like the UK Labour Party and Corbynism.
The Trump personal brand is now seen as toxic by most of the Republucan hierarchy (Lindsay Graham excepted). They can see the damage done to the GOP by DT over the past 3 days and have too great a regard for their own skins to risk it again.
Trumpism? I think they're stuck with it for a while at least because these are the people who turned out for the party and to whom many owe their seat in Senate or Congress - a bit like the UK Labour Party and Corbynism.
Or Blairism, more to the point.
Barnabas62Purgatory Host, 8th Day Host, Epiphanies Host
edited November 2020
Trump’s rubbish tweets show that he is a long way away from conceding. Specifically, he cannot understand how his majorities have disappeared and is now worried that some may be making the military vote disappear. He’s flailing. Loads of democrats voted early by mailed in ballots. Republicans didn’t. So far as the military vote is concerned its up to the States to send out the ballots and to the military to return them. They’ve still got time to arrive for the count if they haven’t done so. And given his dismissive comments about losers and the criticisms by ex generals there is no reason to believe he’ll get a massive vote of confidence from the military anyway.
Also he seems unhappy that his legal team can’t seem to find challenges that work. The thought that there ain’t much to complain about seems to elude him.
I see Mark Meadows, his Chief of Staff, has coronavirus. Wonder who is whispering in his ear now?
This deluded man seems likely to extend the pain of this.
ETA. This is the first time I’ve been able to see the inner workings of the count. I have been so impressed by the transparency of the processes and the hard work and dedication of those counting the votes. These are people to be proud of. And that is what is being criticised here.
Besides his various insults to the military, to the point that ex-generals are coming out against him, dissing John McCain specifically for his time as a POW probably doesn't help.
Besides his various insults to the military, to the point that ex-generals are coming out against him, dissing John McCain specifically for his time as a POW probably doesn't help.
But didn't Trump win a majority of the military vote in 2016, AFTER he had trashed McCain?
(That said, I'd speculate that Trump's insults against McCain might have been psychologically cushioned by the fact that McCain was by then a politician, whereas you don't have that factor at play when he insults soldiers generally.)
Trump’s rubbish tweets show that he is a long way away from conceding. Specifically, he cannot understand how his majorities have disappeared and is now worried that some may be making the military vote disappear. He’s flailing. Loads of democrats voted early by mailed in ballots. Republicans didn’t. So far as the military vote is concerned its up to the States to send out the ballots and to the military to return them. They’ve still got time to arrive for the count if they haven’t done so. And given his dismissive comments about losers and the criticisms by ex generals there is no reason to believe he’ll get a massive vote of confidence from the military anyway.
Also he seems unhappy that his legal team can’t seem to find challenges that work. The thought that there ain’t much to complain about seems to elude him.
I see Mark Meadows, his Chief of Staff, has coronavirus. Wonder who is whispering in his ear now?
This deluded man seems likely to extend the pain of this.
ETA. This is the first time I’ve been able to see the inner workings of the count. I have been so impressed by the transparency of the processes and the hard work and dedication of those counting the votes. These are people to be proud of. And that is what is being criticised here.
I love that last paragraph. Public servants serving the public under duress.
Trump is not deluded. He is playing out a strategy prepared months in advance. Its just a shit strategy unless there is an actual coup involving a paramilitary force or better.
Trump is not deluded. He is playing out a strategy prepared months in advance. Its just a shit strategy unless there is an actual coup involving a paramilitary force or better.
Yes. It seems the plan was to tell his supporters to avoid mail-in voting, while casting doubt on the integrity of those votes. Then to expect a lead for himself when his voters' votes were counted and ramp up the doubt about mail-in while any drift towards Biden was being caused by the 'dubious' mail-ins and hope he carried enough of the public to pressure for an early result to be declared while he was still in the lead. He took the step of declaring himself a winner and saying votes being cast 'late' or 'illegal' votes, still thinking he might be popular enough to carry the day.
Unfortunately for him, LOTS of people want their vote to be counted and not he's lost real power (still pres, but losing it) many broadcasters and social media knowing they no longer have to kow-tow, are frequently pointing out his many lies and attempts to mislead the public.
Meanwhile Biden is doing just the right thing: pointing out that democracy is precious and the mechanics take time and everyone needs to be calm and patient. Also saying he's pretty sure he's won and doing something we haven't seen from t for several years: acting Presidantial.
I think his ego would be much better massaged by quitting the job(and yes, being semi-forced out would appeal to his martyr complex), and then positioning himself as a shadow-president, blasting away against Biden and any Republicans who refuse to acknowledge his continued greatness, via twitter or maybe a podcast featuring Roseanne Barr and Kanye West as perennial guests.
The issue with that is that under Twitter’s policies, he’d be banned pretty quick, so that platform would be lost to him. The only reason he’s not been banned is because he holds a high ranking public office. Take that away, and he would have already been banned. link.
Well, okay, but in the world of 2020s media technology, I'm sure he can find some way to get his message out.
Like I say, a podcast would work. Or, considering that about half the electorate voted for him and a good chunk of them probably think he's personally a god(as opposed to people who will just vote for any Republican), I'm sure a network somewhere would be happy to give him another reality show.
TONIGHT ON NBC!
THE COMEBACK!
HE'S DOWN BUT HE'S NOT OUT!
Trump: I'm not gonna let them take my country away from me!
WATCH DONALD TRUMP CHOOSE CAMPAIGN STAFF FOR HIS NEXT RUN AT THE WHITE HOUSE!
Trump: I'm only looking for the best!
TONIGHT! ONLY ON NBC!
Trump: Quitting is for losers!
Yes. This is the sort of thing I envisage. The URL could be something like www.realpresidenttrump.com. He could position himself for the 2024 election and make it difficult for the Republicans to back anyone else but him (otherwise he'd run as an independent, splitting the red vote). In the meantime he would loudly declaim on what a lousy job Biden was doing.
The Trump personal brand is now seen as toxic by most of the Republucan hierarchy (Lindsay Graham excepted). They can see the damage done to the GOP by DT over the past 3 days and have too great a regard for their own skins to risk it again.
Trumpism? I think they're stuck with it for a while at least because these are the people who turned out for the party and to whom many owe their seat in Senate or Congress - a bit like the UK Labour Party and Corbynism.
The operative word is "now".
Repudiating after he's lost. His political party should be destroyed by this. But isn't.
I think his ego would be much better massaged by quitting the job(and yes, being semi-forced out would appeal to his martyr complex), and then positioning himself as a shadow-president, blasting away against Biden and any Republicans who refuse to acknowledge his continued greatness, via twitter or maybe a podcast featuring Roseanne Barr and Kanye West as perennial guests.
The issue with that is that under Twitter’s policies, he’d be banned pretty quick, so that platform would be lost to him. The only reason he’s not been banned is because he holds a high ranking public office. Take that away, and he would have already been banned. link.
Well, okay, but in the world of 2020s media technology, I'm sure he can find some way to get his message out.
Like I say, a podcast would work. Or, considering that about half the electorate voted for him and a good chunk of them probably think he's personally a god(as opposed to people who will just vote for any Republican), I'm sure a network somewhere would be happy to give him another reality show.
TONIGHT ON NBC!
THE COMEBACK!
HE'S DOWN BUT HE'S NOT OUT!
Trump: I'm not gonna let them take my country away from me!
WATCH DONALD TRUMP CHOOSE CAMPAIGN STAFF FOR HIS NEXT RUN AT THE WHITE HOUSE!
Trump: I'm only looking for the best!
TONIGHT! ONLY ON NBC!
Trump: Quitting is for losers!
Yes. This is the sort of thing I envisage. The URL could be something like www.realpresidenttrump.com. He could position himself for the 2024 election and make it difficult for the Republicans to back anyone else but him (otherwise he'd run as an independent, splitting the red vote). In the meantime he would loudly declaim on what a lousy job Biden was doing.
If it's true that there are large numbers of people wanting to settle various scores in court over debts or missing taxes, he's going to have a lot to deal with and any attempts at political office will fail. The real Republicans can continue to distance themselves from him and honestly portray him as the vote-splitter.
He will probably still have a minority following and be a media figure as a ranting right-wing old fart but in the role of a deeply unpopular has-been (as viewed by most people), riddled with debt and being dragged through the courts over months and years while his many buildings and business are taken over by banks and creditors in settlement of his debts; video clips of his name being ripped off buildings and replaced by the new owners names will be on youtube forever.
In the most recent Military Timespoll of active-duty military personnel, only 37% said they would vote for Trump. He is not going to get enough votes from the military to put him over the top.
Arizona now looks as though it will drop into the recount zone but the trends have become less favourable for Trump. It looks to be close at the end of the count but Biden seems more likely now to be leading at that point.
The Trump personal brand is now seen as toxic by most of the Republucan hierarchy (Lindsay Graham excepted). They can see the damage done to the GOP by DT over the past 3 days and have too great a regard for their own skins to risk it again.
I'm not sure that's the case. If Trump had won they'd all still be on board the Trump Train. If the expected Biden blowout had materialized they'd be distancing themselves. A narrow defeat leaves Republican legislators unsure of which way to jump, not wanting Trump to drag them down but also realizing that Trump's followers will be key to their future electoral success. Hence the responses ranging from silence to half-hearted support to conspiracism.
Here's a revised list of still outstanding states.
Nevada* (6) Biden +0.8 pp
Arizona (11) Biden +0.6 pp
Pennsylvania (20) Biden +0.5 pp
Georgia (16) Biden +0.1 pp
North Carolina* (15) Trump +1.4 pp
Alaska* (3) Trump +29.9 pp
Biden needs 17 electoral votes to win at this point if you assume Arizona is still undetermined or 6 electoral votes if you don't, while Trump needs 56.
Biden's path to victory at this point is to win Pennsylvania or Nevada plus Arizona or Georgia plus any other state from the list above. He's likely to win all four of the states just named.
Trump's path to victory is to win North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania plus either Arizona or Nevada.
The world breathes a collective sigh of relief and we (almost) all are hugely thankful that this time the choice of the American people is not thwarted by the Electoral College.
It has been heartbreaking to see this train-wreck-in-slow-motion over the last four years. Congratulations US shipmates, and welcome back to the civilised world.
The Biden-Harris transition website has gone live. there's not much there right now other than some boilerplate about hitting the ground running, but I expect it will be filled out more in the next few hours or days.
Our own beloved Leader has rather hitched our wagon to Trump.
I wonder if anyone among the Brexiteers has realised yet that Biden cares rather more about the peace process in Northern Ireland than he does about the UK's convenience in a trade deal. Also, that Biden probably looks more skeptically at countries that don't honour international agreements they've signed than Trump does.
One commentator (from the Guardian) remarks that foreign policy is very much Mr Biden's area of expertise - US Shipmates will know if that is true - so yes, he may well look upon Johnson and his shenanigans with a rather baleful eye...
Comments
Not really - you're right that each county counts separately, but each update is a tranche of votes from a particular county, not the whole total.
This election was particularly unusual in that the mail votes skewed very heavily Democratic (Trump was telling all his supporters to vote in person. Dems were encouraging mail votes.) and different states have different rules about when they can count mail votes, and so those votes showed up at different stages of the count in different states.
Communication with the outside while the initial count is underway is not permitted. Each poll has at most 450 voters.
The final count is done several days later by the riding's Returning Officer and is used to verify the DRO's report. The Returning Officer's second count is official and is published forthwith in the Canada Gazette and provided to the Chief Electoral Officer, who provides it to the Clerk of the House.
I'm glad he's got it, sad he needs it (beyond the usual candidate security). And I hope Kamala gets it, too--possibly more, because there will be people who hate her because she's a woman and a person of color.
I hope that *someone* is keeping a close eye on T for signs of a) likelihood to hurt other people; and b) likelihood to hurt himself. He's put everything into making this work; into getting what (for him) is the ultimate personal fulfillment and emotional nutrition; into avoiding prison, bankruptcy, loss of assets and property; etc.
And how many of the people around him (family included) would stay around him, help him get help, tell him he matters?
He's been becoming something like a singularity. I know little about singularities in astronomy/astrophysics; but I did some skimming online to at least attempt to point in the direction of what I mean. (If you feel the need to laugh at me, kindly do it privately in a pillow.
Per the article "What Is A Singularity?" at UniverseToday, I think "naked singularity" is in the vicinity of what I mean:
IMVHO, T has been condensing and devolving/decaying in front of us. What might he do if he loses the election and his whole palace of cards comes down?
Will he collapse into being a black hole? Will he (try to) take everyone else with him?
:votive:
*This means no TV or radio inside the polling station, although I don't know how they stop people finding out via their smartphones these days.
Arizona now looks as though it will drop into the recount zone but the trends have become less favourable for Trump. It looks to be close at the end of the count but Biden seems more likely now to be leading at that point.
The count has slowed in Pennsylvania and there are lots outstanding still. Biden’s majority will move out of the recount zone of less than 0.5% sometime tomorrow. At 29k it is already at 0.4% On trends it will be a big surprise if that majority isn’t at least doubled at the end of the count.
Nevada appears to have no clear recount percentage rule.
The votes have moved significantly in Biden’s favour. I’d be surprised if the mainstream media decision desks don’t call the race for Biden sometime today (7 November).
The only such Trump-meltdown that would worry me is one involving the nuclear codes, and personally I don't see that as a likely possibility. Contrary to the prediction that he would go on a warmongering spree to up his game on the campaign trail, he doesn't seem to have much interest in using the killing-power of the state to advance his personal interests(*).
I think his ego would be much better massaged by quitting the job(and yes, being semi-forced out would appeal to his martyr complex), and then positioning himself as a shadow-president, blasting away against Biden and any Republicans who refuse to acknowledge his continued greatness, via twitter or maybe a podcast featuring Roseanne Barr and Kanye West as perennial guests.
(*) And no, I don't think that makes him a saint or a great humanitarian, just a very average person. Which has basically been my theory of the guy from very early on.
They're reliant on the states each mailing them out in good time, and presumably military post is only delivered to bases to any personnel on missions away from base won't get them until they return. Not sure what the arrangements are for ships at sea, whether their mail gets helicoptered in and out or whether they have to wait until they make port.
WARNING: This is a long post for electoral nerds.
I have been a party scrutineer at many Australian state and federal elections, which occur on a Saturday to maximise attendance. The booth [polling station] presiding officer seals the ballot boxes at the beginning of polling day and scrutineers sign off on that. At the close of the poll, the boxes are unsealed in the booth, again under the observation of scrutineers. The booth is locked, and as in France there is no outside contact for the duration of the initial count.
We then observe the count, usually of the lower house of parliament, as that's where our governments are formed. We must not touch the ballot papers, but can be quite close to the counting tables and are permitted to challenge papers which are set aside for later scrutiny. We also observe which candidate is coming second - remember that Australian voting is preferential, and an early leader can often be overtaken if not receiving an absolute majority. Our area is a safe Labor seat, so the scrutiny is fairly friendly, but in closely-contested marginals it can be intense.
At the conclusion of the initial count, the scrutineers usually leave the booth, to report to their party's electorate campaign HQ on the figures. These are in turn reported to the overall party campaign HQ, which means that the parties often have an idea as to the flow of votes before the Electoral Commission. The presiding officer will ring these initial figures through to the local office of the Commission, who then enter the data for immediate upload to the tally centre.
The presiding officer, once satisfied that the number of ballot papers issued tallies with those in the count, and if not has had the wastebaskets and anywhere else searched, secures the papers and transports them to the local office of the Electoral Commission, where the check count and distribution of preferences [if no candidate achieves an absolute majority] occur. Note that the preferential system of voting eliminates the need for runoff polls.
Early votes and postal votes are only counted after the close of polls. Postal votes must be postmarked ne later than polling day, and are allowed several days afterwards to be delivered.
My wife has been a presiding officer in large booths of about 2000 voters. After a 7am start, it's usually about 1.30am before she gets home after a 6.00pm close of polls. On one occasion, she threatened to eject two State MPs [both of them personal acquaintances of ours] from the booth for over-aggressive scrutineering. She has also had to prevent a voter from leaving the booth with ballot papers in hand.
Well, okay, but in the world of 2020s media technology, I'm sure he can find some way to get his message out.
Like I say, a podcast would work. Or, considering that about half the electorate voted for him and a good chunk of them probably think he's personally a god(as opposed to people who will just vote for any Republican), I'm sure a network somewhere would be happy to give him another reality show.
TONIGHT ON NBC!
THE COMEBACK!
HE'S DOWN BUT HE'S NOT OUT!
Trump: I'm not gonna let them take my country away from me!
WATCH DONALD TRUMP CHOOSE CAMPAIGN STAFF FOR HIS NEXT RUN AT THE WHITE HOUSE!
Trump: I'm only looking for the best!
TONIGHT! ONLY ON NBC!
Trump: Quitting is for losers!
Trumpism? I think they're stuck with it for a while at least because these are the people who turned out for the party and to whom many owe their seat in Senate or Congress - a bit like the UK Labour Party and Corbynism.
Or Blairism, more to the point.
Also he seems unhappy that his legal team can’t seem to find challenges that work. The thought that there ain’t much to complain about seems to elude him.
I see Mark Meadows, his Chief of Staff, has coronavirus. Wonder who is whispering in his ear now?
This deluded man seems likely to extend the pain of this.
ETA. This is the first time I’ve been able to see the inner workings of the count. I have been so impressed by the transparency of the processes and the hard work and dedication of those counting the votes. These are people to be proud of. And that is what is being criticised here.
But didn't Trump win a majority of the military vote in 2016, AFTER he had trashed McCain?
(That said, I'd speculate that Trump's insults against McCain might have been psychologically cushioned by the fact that McCain was by then a politician, whereas you don't have that factor at play when he insults soldiers generally.)
I love that last paragraph. Public servants serving the public under duress.
Trump is not deluded. He is playing out a strategy prepared months in advance. Its just a shit strategy unless there is an actual coup involving a paramilitary force or better.
Yes. It seems the plan was to tell his supporters to avoid mail-in voting, while casting doubt on the integrity of those votes. Then to expect a lead for himself when his voters' votes were counted and ramp up the doubt about mail-in while any drift towards Biden was being caused by the 'dubious' mail-ins and hope he carried enough of the public to pressure for an early result to be declared while he was still in the lead. He took the step of declaring himself a winner and saying votes being cast 'late' or 'illegal' votes, still thinking he might be popular enough to carry the day.
Unfortunately for him, LOTS of people want their vote to be counted and not he's lost real power (still pres, but losing it) many broadcasters and social media knowing they no longer have to kow-tow, are frequently pointing out his many lies and attempts to mislead the public.
Meanwhile Biden is doing just the right thing: pointing out that democracy is precious and the mechanics take time and everyone needs to be calm and patient. Also saying he's pretty sure he's won and doing something we haven't seen from t for several years: acting Presidantial.
Yes. This is the sort of thing I envisage. The URL could be something like www.realpresidenttrump.com. He could position himself for the 2024 election and make it difficult for the Republicans to back anyone else but him (otherwise he'd run as an independent, splitting the red vote). In the meantime he would loudly declaim on what a lousy job Biden was doing.
The operative word is "now".
Repudiating after he's lost. His political party should be destroyed by this. But isn't.
If it's true that there are large numbers of people wanting to settle various scores in court over debts or missing taxes, he's going to have a lot to deal with and any attempts at political office will fail. The real Republicans can continue to distance themselves from him and honestly portray him as the vote-splitter.
He will probably still have a minority following and be a media figure as a ranting right-wing old fart but in the role of a deeply unpopular has-been (as viewed by most people), riddled with debt and being dragged through the courts over months and years while his many buildings and business are taken over by banks and creditors in settlement of his debts; video clips of his name being ripped off buildings and replaced by the new owners names will be on youtube forever.
In Arizona the threshold for an automatic recount is a margin of 0.1 percentage points or less. Biden's current lead is 0.9 pp. I don't think there are enough ballots out there to shift this result enough to qualify.
I'm not sure that's the case. If Trump had won they'd all still be on board the Trump Train. If the expected Biden blowout had materialized they'd be distancing themselves. A narrow defeat leaves Republican legislators unsure of which way to jump, not wanting Trump to drag them down but also realizing that Trump's followers will be key to their future electoral success. Hence the responses ranging from silence to half-hearted support to conspiracism.
- Nevada* (6) Biden +0.8 pp
- Arizona (11) Biden +0.6 pp
- Pennsylvania (20) Biden +0.5 pp
- Georgia (16) Biden +0.1 pp
- North Carolina* (15) Trump +1.4 pp
- Alaska* (3) Trump +29.9 pp
Biden needs 17 electoral votes to win at this point if you assume Arizona is still undetermined or 6 electoral votes if you don't, while Trump needs 56.Biden's path to victory at this point is to win Pennsylvania or Nevada plus Arizona or Georgia plus any other state from the list above. He's likely to win all four of the states just named.
Trump's path to victory is to win North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania plus either Arizona or Nevada.
Previous list here.
*Still accepting mailed ballots received after Election Day provided they are postmarked on or before Election Day.
“ it s easier to be a parent this morning, “
Sobering to see a grown person in tears.....
FWIW, I think CNN has been very fair on this election
Hoping for no lame duck nastiness to follow.
Fully expecting that on some front pages...
But O! what a relief! Heartfelt here in Brexshit Island, where we now wonder how Mr Biden will deal with our own beloved Leader...
Drudge Report used it.
As a wise and caring adult talking to an undisciplined toddler, I hope. He badly needs to hear some home truths.
I wonder if anyone among the Brexiteers has realised yet that Biden cares rather more about the peace process in Northern Ireland than he does about the UK's convenience in a trade deal. Also, that Biden probably looks more skeptically at countries that don't honour international agreements they've signed than Trump does.