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Georgia's 6th Congressional District Special Election |OT| Round 2: Fight!

My thoughts on American politics these days is to assume the worst outcome is more likely. If he wins, i'll be happy, but i've no doubt that given the choice between two options, American voters will chose the worst one.
 

Quazar

Member
There's no issue with the system really. It just takes longer to report the actual number of votes counted with the AP.

The process goes as follows:

  1. AP Vote Reporter waits by a county clerk's desk and badgers the clerk for vote totals.
  2. AP Vote Reporter calls AP Election HQ with vote total updates until their, "Final Call," which basically is the final total of votes counted. Usually there's about 4 calls total and based on the precinct/county this could take hours or in the case of Detroit in November 2016, weeks.
  3. On the other line of the AP Vote Reporter's call, are Vote Takers. These people sit at a computer and manually put in the number of votes into a proprietary vote counter program. Vote takers will not have an assigned county or precinct. They are given between 3 and 4 states, and receive calls from any county/precinct within that state throughout the night.
  4. Once Vote Takers have a final call from a Vote Reporter, a supervisor will then go over the numbers twice with the caller, and then finalize the vote.
  5. After the vote is finalized with the supervisor, the totals are then sent to the ten or so managers at AP Election HQ. These people have years to decades worth of experience when it comes to elections and will know if a number is fishy or not. If they don't see anything amiss, the Supervisor will then allow the final numbers to be published.

It's not a perfect system, but it's fairly meticulous and careful. That said, I don't know how many times I've taken calls at 5AM the morning after Election Day with exhausted Vote Reporters who do not give a shit whether or not their numbers are correct; sometimes the system does not account for tired ass people who have been up for 36 hours.

That's neat. Thanks for the feedback. Now the question is, what about these other sources/websites?
 

drspeedy

Member
And don't forget that the last two weeks right wing media-rush, fox etc. -have been saying that the left had called this already as an upcoming 'huge win'. And then this week, when things were as tight (as expected), they all fired up the same spin machine to say "See?! Polls are close. Because nobody wants the Democrats. People support the president! The liberal media lied!"

It doesn't matter who wins, or how much the other person loses by, there will be a spin to the base, and it will not be in favor of Democrats
 
Ossoff is probably going to lose, but people realize there's still 3/4 of votes to report in lol. SC is almost over, though, looks like Parnell is going to lose by 2-3 points.
 
If Parnell loses South Carolina by 4 or 5 points, lots of Democratic activists will point fingers at the party’s hierarchy for not getting more involved (cough, cough Kansas 4). But it’s possible that Parnell is doing well tonight because he wasn’t hyped, not despite it.

This kind of sums up my feelings.
 

Jenov

Member
Who says it's the worst outcome :)

Yuck, Handel is straight up awful.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Handel

Handel describes herself an “unwavering conservative fighter” rather than a “go along to get along” Republican.[53] In the campaign for the 2014 Senate seat, she said that she would be a Senator in the mold of Ted Cruz, and called on Mitch McConnell to resign from the Republican leadership of the Senate.[53] In 2014, Politico described her as "a Palin-style conservative".[53]

Handel voiced support for President Trump's May 10, 2017 firing of FBI Director James Comey, stating, "it's been clear for some time that FBI Director Comey has lost the confidence of Republicans, Democrats and broader institutions, and his removal as FBI Director was probably overdue".[45] Regarding reports Trump had disclosed classified information to Russia, Handel said that they are “potentially a gross assumption” by the press, stating “we have investigations underway...I would suggest that all of us would let the process play out, and let the facts take us where the facts take us.”[54][47] In June 2017, she said that she was troubled by some of Trump's proposed cuts to federal research funds.[55] She has also criticized the President's use of Twitter.[55]

Handel favors repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).[56][57] She has expressed support for Tom Price's legislation to replace Obamacare.[58] She supported the May 2017 version of the American Health Care Act, the GOP's replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act.[59][60] In a June 2017 debate, she stated that she would never support a bill that reduced protections for preexisting conditions and said that the AHCA did no such thing, while CNN notes that independent fact-checkers have found that the May 2017 version of AHCA would reduce protections for preexisting conditions.[61][62] She said, "I reject the premise of CBO", referring to the Congressional Budget Office estimate that 23 million more Americans would be uninsured if the May 2017 version of AHCA were to become law.[55][63]

In a June 2017 debate, she stated that she opposed a minimum wage, saying "This is an example of a fundamental difference between a liberal and a conservative. I do not support a livable wage."[55][62] Handel stated “The private sector creates good paying jobs when we have a robust economy with lower taxes and less regulation.”[62]

Handel opposes abortion[64] and favors eliminating government funding for Planned Parenthood.[64] She opposes embryonic stem cell research.[65][66][67]

Handel has said that the federal government's role in combating climate change should be "limited so that state and local government lead the way."[68] She supports President Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement.[69] Asked if she accepted the scientific consensus on climate change, Handel said, "Clearly, there have been changes in the climate" but did not say whether human activities contribute to climate change.[44][69]

Handel opposes the bipartisan Senate "Gang of Eight" bill, which would have provided a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.[56] She opposes an automatic path to citizenship, saying, "These immigrants have come to our country and blatantly disregarded our laws. We cannot, we should not reward that. No amnesty. No ability to vote."[68]

Handel opposes same-sex marriage and same-sex civil unions.[70][71][67] She has voted against legislation that would give domestic partner benefits.[71][67][72][73] She opposes the adoption of children by gay individuals, stating that it "is not the best household for a child."[70][67][74]
 

DogDude

Member
Karen Handel (Republican) 51.4% 78,574
Jon Ossoff (Democratic) 48.6% 74,276
50 of 208 (24%) Precincts Reporting, 152,850 Total Votes
 

Mully

Member
That's neat. Thanks for the feedback. Now the question is, what about these other sources/websites?

I can't really say which one is better since they're all getting the same information from the same source: the local election board/county clerk's office. The only real difference between them are the vetting processes behind the scenes at the AP, Decision Desk, etc. Every system relies on the vote totals from local government. There's no other way to get vote totals.
 
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Bunta

Fujiwara Tofu Shop
Karen Handel (Republican) 51.9% 85,316
Jon Ossoff (Democratic) 48.1% 79,121

81 of 208 (39%) Precincts Reporting, 164,437 Total Votes
 
The best thing that could happen if you're a Dem strategist is Trump and the Republican party continue to ignore warning signs.

I mean, Trump ignoring them is a given. Even if he were capable of taking advice and stowing his attitude, it seems pretty clear that he's light years out from being able to understand how he would have to ameliorate his behavior to actually change course.
 

Zolo

Member
I mean, Trump ignoring them is a given. Even if he were capable of taking advice and stowing his attitude, it seems pretty clear that he's light years out from being able to understand how he would have to ameliorate his behavior to actually change course.

He's also the guy who genuinely believed it was hard for Republicans to win the electoral vote. He was planning on winning the popular vote, but losing the electoral one.
 

Bunta

Fujiwara Tofu Shop
Karen Handel (Republican) 52.6% 96,130
Jon Ossoff (Democratic) 47.4% 86,531

103 of 208 (50%) Precincts Reporting, 182,661 Total Votes
 
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