CosmicBills Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 Forgive me if this is elementary, but in my house we are having a few debates and I need some facts. A couple questions: 1) How are absentee votes counted? Are they counted only if they are needed? Or are they counted the same as all the other votes? and 2) When the journalists "call" the election over (forget 2000 ever happened for a moment) are they going based on real votes or just an estimate? Basically, after this election is called (and it isn't dragged out persay) are there still people counting votes? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VABills Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 Basically they will determine the difference between the standard votes. If the number of absentee votes is more then the margin of victory, then they manually count the votes. Otherwise they guestimate them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted November 3, 2004 Author Share Posted November 3, 2004 Basically they will determine the difference between the standard votes. If the number of absentee votes is more then the margin of victory, then they manually count the votes. Otherwise they guestimate them. 98063[/snapback] Thanks VA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Avenger Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 2) When the journalists "call" the election over (forget 2000 ever happened for a moment) are they going based on real votes or just an estimate? Basically, after this election is called (and it isn't dragged out persay) are there still people counting votes? Thanks! 98056[/snapback] States are called based on exit polls and data gathered all day. If the data is consistent and there is a wide enough gap between candidates the call is made. If the race is close or the exit poll data has shown different things at different times the networks look at the actual votes and where they are coming from to see which of the exit poll models is the correct reflection of what is happening. The closer the race, the more of the actuals you have to look at before you make a call. In 2000 the problem was that the margin was so small it was statistically insignificant (537 votes out of 15+ million cast) and there was no way to tell. The networks made calls and everyone was wrong because you actually had to count all the votes in the next few weeks to determine who actually won the state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted November 3, 2004 Author Share Posted November 3, 2004 Okay more dumb election questions: Who won these states in 2000: Michigan Minnesota New Mexico Arizona THANKS:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Avenger Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 Okay more dumb election questions: Who won these states in 2000: Michigan Minnesota New Mexico Arizona THANKS:) 98143[/snapback] Gore took the first 3 - Bush took Arizona. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted November 3, 2004 Author Share Posted November 3, 2004 Gore took the first 3 - Bush took Arizona. 98164[/snapback] Thanks buddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 2) When the journalists "call" the election over (forget 2000 ever happened for a moment) are they going based on real votes or just an estimate? Basically, after this election is called (and it isn't dragged out persay) are there still people counting votes? Thanks! 98056[/snapback] One VERY important note to point out here: whatever the TV "calls" and projections say, they have NOTHING to do with the people actually working the polls and counting the votes. The last presidential election I worked, we counted every machine vote and every single absentee ballot - TWICE - before everyone agreed to certify our totals and the Judge of Elections and I drove them to the county courthouse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted November 3, 2004 Author Share Posted November 3, 2004 One VERY important note to point out here: whatever the TV "calls" and projections say, they have NOTHING to do with the people actually working the polls and counting the votes. The last presidential election I worked, we counted every machine vote and every single absentee ballot - TWICE - before everyone agreed to certify our totals and the Judge of Elections and I drove them to the county courthouse. 98196[/snapback] Thank you very much for the info. Good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Avenger Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 One VERY important note to point out here: whatever the TV "calls" and projections say, they have NOTHING to do with the people actually working the polls and counting the votes. The last presidential election I worked, we counted every machine vote and every single absentee ballot - TWICE - before everyone agreed to certify our totals and the Judge of Elections and I drove them to the county courthouse. 98196[/snapback] Right you are - when I worked the '92 election at ABC News we relied upon VRS, a pool group of exit polls shared by all the networks as well as the AP, etc. The VRS pollsters conducted the exit polls and all the info went into the same databse. All the media outlets had access to the same system - we all got the same data at the same time. Calling a state one way or the other was up to the individual network and how they interpreted the data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted November 3, 2004 Author Share Posted November 3, 2004 Sorry for continuing to ask dumb questions, but who took Iowa in 2000? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Avenger Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 Sorry for continuing to ask dumb questions, but who took Iowa in 2000? 98224[/snapback] Gore took Iowa in 2000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicBills Posted November 3, 2004 Author Share Posted November 3, 2004 Gore took Iowa in 2000. 98246[/snapback] Thanks:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts