@1323657201685331973

This is amazing but also horrifying and really just outlines how utterly inept he is at his job. How anyone can still support him is really just one of life's mysteries and really says a lot about America. We had a Trump wannabe run for president in Iceland earlier this year and the Icelandic people promptly shut him down with the incumbent (very boring but inoffensive) president getting almost 90% of the vote in a 2-man race lol.

Edited November 3, 20204 yr by devil tin coffin

There's lots of stuff on Twitter about Florida's voter registration data - the interpretations of it seem a little mixed but it appears the general consensus at the moment is that it looks like Republican turnout isn't looking high enough to close Biden's early-vote lead yet, unless non-affiliated voters are breaking more for Trump than the polls suggest. i.e. it's ultimately pretty meaningless but people seem optimistic about it so that's at least something!

 

I'm really not relying on Florida at all so if Biden can pull it out there (and preferably early) then that'll be a huge relief.

If Biden is on course to win Florida or is favoured then it’s basically game over. This is my main hope right now - though it’ll still be about 3am.

I do have a question. Why are certain states votes more important than others?

I won't be able to spend too much time on here tonight due to a lack of WiFi but I hope it goes well! I remember being on here till about 4am for the 2016 disaster :heart:

I do have a question. Why are certain states votes more important than others?

 

Number of electoral college votes per state is to do with population I think? :unsure:

Edited November 3, 20204 yr by Salty Melody

Number of electoral college votes per state is to do with population I think? :unsure:

 

Living in a country where the government is decided by the largest amount of votes leaves me confused with the american voting system. Like we all know that Hilary had the most votes in 2016 so I was so confused when Trump.was voted president by the EC 😂

I do have a question. Why are certain states votes more important than others?

 

The election isn't decided by the raw vote number (Hillary won by 3 million votes in 2016 but still lost the election) but by the Electoral College - every state has a number of votes based on its population and the winner in that state wins all of the Electoral College votes from the state*. The majority of the states are not competitive at all (some states are guaranteed to vote for Biden by a wide margin, others are guaranteed to vote for Trump by a wide margin) so the result is ultimately determined by which way the vote goes in the 'swing states' which have a chance of voting either way.

 

It's a dumb system but that's the way it's always been ~

 

*except in Maine and Nebraska

Democrats basically would have a permanent presidency if it was decided through the overall vote because of the high population of the US east coast and California.

Edited November 3, 20204 yr by Salty Melody

Which would force the Republicans to be less insane to become competitive again.

I’m thinking Trump has won this again hands down.

 

I think that a lot of older people (like 65+) will be voting for him and that could swing votes in his favour. I know Biden is the most popular choice you see online etc but I don’t know I’m really feeling like Trumps got this and it won’t be as close as people think. The silent majority usually ends up winning these things too. Last year seemed more likely that Hilary would get it than it did this year for Biden and he still got in. I’ll be stunned if he loses.

 

Edit (I mean 2016 not last year :lol: )

The Electoral College made a certain amount of sense when it was introduced. It was designed to make candidates campaign across the country rather than concentrating on heavily populated areas. The way the EC places are allocated (even the smallest states get three votes whereas the biggest, California, gets 55 means that the smaller states cannot simply be ignored.

 

However, it is now possible for the parties to identify which groups within the key states are the ones most likely to switch. They already largely ignored states where the outcome was almost a foregone conclusion. Now they can also largely ignore vast numbers of voters even in the swing states because their votes are predictable. This means that a huge amount of effort is concentrated on persuading a minority of voters in a minority of states.

Trying to stay positive but waking up to a political result that isn't a disappointment feels like an alien concept. I guess I'm truly settling into adulthood.

the biggest irony is that proponents of the EC claim it's meant to be a hedge against the "tyranny of the majority" e.g. if the popular vote goes to a candidate the EC deems unfit for the presidency, which, lol is all one can say

Living in a country where the government is decided by the largest amount of votes leaves me confused with the american voting system. Like we all know that Hilary had the most votes in 2016 so I was so confused when Trump.was voted president by the EC

 

Ah, but it IS possible to lose the popular vote and win the UK general Election. E.g 1951: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1951_United_K...eneral_election

 

Conservatives: 13,717,851 votes, 321 seats

Labour: 13,948,385, 295 seats.

I don't feel like Joe Biden will come anywhere to delivering the change needed in America, but there's only one choice compared with that man. Please can America do the right thing. Not confident though :( I mean I'm expecting a Biden victory but I'm not certain at all.

Trying to stay positive but waking up to a political result that isn't a disappointment feels like an alien concept. I guess I'm truly settling into adulthood.

 

I honestly wouldn’t know what to feel if this wasn’t a disappointment. I can’t remember the last time I woke up to good news.

Trying to stay positive but waking up to a political result that isn't a disappointment feels like an alien concept. I guess I'm truly settling into adulthood.

 

If Biden wins, I feel like the world will be a brighter place, unless Trump refuses to leave because y'know... He would definitely do that.

In terms of us in the UK who’s the better choice of winner here? I’ve read that Trump is more for trade deals and what not than what Biden is. Not that in any way I’m supporting him just trying to think of one good thing what may come from this.

 

Gah, I’m relieved in some ways I’m not American! It must be a scary time when it comes down to things like this and the scary protests etc what will happen either result too. I hope everyone who voted done so safely.

I was planning on staying up tonight but I think it’ll make more sense to just wake up early and try to catch up

 

As a few have just said, it seems inconceivable now after that last 5/6 years or so, that we could wake up to a positive election result, so that is making me feel very pessimistic

 

I’m trying to keep up with the stats coming in about Florida but I’m already pretty overwhelmed and confused lol, this is my first time properly following a US election in depth