# 58,000,000 Americans have voted so far! (10/25) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 25, 2020, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885 "2020-10-25T23:24:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/81 "2020-10-28T21:30:43Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Is there not a risk of skewing the results or the turnout by reporting even that potentially inexact figure? I’ve always wondered that as well. If your party is doing well in the polls, you might not vote because you don’t have to. If it’s not doing well, you might not vote because your one vote isn’t going to make a difference. I have to assume if this was actually a problem, these polls wouldn’t be happening. My guess is that people aren’t going to stay home because of the polls, they were already going to stay home regardless, but this makes them feel justified in that decision. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/82 "2020-10-28T22:01:15Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I have to assume if this was actually a problem, these polls wouldn’t be happening. My guess is that people aren’t going to stay home because of the polls, they were already going to stay home regardless, but this makes them feel justified in that decision. I think a lot of lukewarm Clinton voters in 2016 stayed home because they didn’t think Trump had a chance. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/83 "2020-10-28T22:21:04Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I don’t understand what that means, when the postal ballot figures so far of Dem v Rep were shown on screen, what was it that was being reported? A guess. Depending on the state, some or all of the following may be available: - names of people who have voted (and possibly their party preference) - total number of people who have voted by precinct/city/county - demographic data of the people in the precinct/county/city - voting results from past elections in the area. So you can throw that into a computer and make a supportable estimate about the contents of the ballots - but you don’t know the actual contents of the ballots. (It could be that the precinct flipped - or that a bunch of registered \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ voted the other way) > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Are you saying that someone, somewhere knows that John A, John B and John C have definitely returned postal ballots and, though no-one has opened them up and checked, because there is an official record of John A, John B and John C being rep, rep, dem respectively, there is a reporting of what the anticipated split would be. Pretty much. Whether or not someone voted is a matter of public record. Everyone can find that out. _How_ they voted is private. The only person who knows how John A actually voted is John A. But if John A lives in a city that votes 80% Republican, or has in the past given money to the Republican party or to Republican candidates (both things that are also matters of public record and anyone can find out), or if John A lives in a state where people do put party preference down when they register to vote - then you can make a guess “John A voted for Republican candidates.” That’s what’s being reported - the guess. It can change behavior - people can think that it’s already decided and not vote because their candidate doesn’t need it or not vote because they think it’s impossible to overcome the deficit. (I live on the west coast - there were times where actual presidential election results from the east coast were announced 4 hours before polls closed here - it had an effect on turnout). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2020, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/84 "2020-10-28T22:53:38Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > If I put on my optimistic hat, those numbers look even better. My guess is that the percentage of Republicans not voting for Trump will be higher than the percentage of Democrats not voting for Biden. Be careful, here: There are two different things being talked about. There might be more people who consider themselves Republican voting for Biden than people who consider themselves Democrat voting for Trump. But the numbers aren’t based on what people consider themselves. They’re based, in effect, on what primary election people chose to vote in most recently, and that’s not the same thing. The most recent primary was, de facto, uncontested on the Republican side, but heavily contested on the Democratic side, and that may well have inspired large number of people who are ideologically Republican to have registered as Democrats, so they could have a say in the primary that actually mattered. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/85 "2020-10-29T02:02:25Z")
I just heard Amy Klobuchar say on the “Rachel Maddow Show” that we’re up to 75 million early votes. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/86 "2020-10-29T03:23:48Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > [Exactly](https://www.historylink.org/File/5451). And I should probably stop using the acronym since Discourse doesn’t show my location. IMO, you shouldn’t use the acronym even if it _did_ show your location. Don’t make readers have to work to understand your writing. This is something of a problem on the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/87 "2020-10-29T03:46:19Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > Back on topic for a moment, I saw a tweet this morning by an election analyst who claimed that 25% of the early votes cast so far, about 15 million in all, have been cast by voters who didn’t vote at all in 2016. Do you have a link to that? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/88 "2020-10-29T04:43:46Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > IMO IMO?   ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/89 "2020-10-29T05:34:38Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > I seem to recall that there have even been instances in the past where the networks have called a state before voting was over in that state, based on most of the state being in one time zone but some small portion in another. It may have even been Florida, I believe the panhandle is Central time while the rest of the state is Eastern. The result was people waiting in line to vote simply went home. Yes, this sort of thing has been a problem; also when the eastern and middle states get called when their polls close, people in western states may just go home. This leads to another real problem that nobody here has mentioned yet: It screws up the more local down-ballot elections. The nation-wide or state-wide races may be called, but if that leads to people going home without voting, then they also don’t vote for the local mayor, or city council, or local ballot measures, etc. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/90 "2020-10-29T08:51:20Z")
In 1980 I was living in Washington state. I deliberately waited until the networks called the presidential election before going out to vote. This was somewhere around 6 p.m. PST, IIRC. Not sure why I did that; just being perverse, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/91 "2020-10-29T13:09:19Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > > [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > > > Back on topic for a moment, I saw a tweet this morning by an election analyst who claimed that 25% of the early votes cast so far, about 15 million in all, have been cast by voters who didn’t vote at all in 2016. > > Do you have a link to that? [Tom Bonier is with TargetSmart,](https://twitter.com/tbonier/status/1321626114704506886) a data analysis outfit, as far as I can determine. Let me know if I didn’t link to that tweet correctly. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/92 "2020-10-29T13:58:52Z")
IMO =! SoW ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/93 "2020-10-29T14:02:19Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > [Tom Bonier is with TargetSmart,](https://twitter.com/tbonier/status/1321626114704506886) a data analysis outfit, as far as I can determine. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/94 "2020-10-29T14:21:39Z")
it’s over 75 million early votes now. plus the weekend before election day will likely be very busy too. we may actually hit 100 million early votes. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/95 "2020-10-29T14:40:08Z")
I’m wondering if we’ll see legislation in red states soon curtailing lengthy early voting periods. Texas in particular. Everything that Greg Abbott did in an attempt to limit voting this year was undermined by current rules allowing for weeks of early voting. However, if Dems capture the state house there, which appears now to be a real possibility, they’re liable to make it even easier to vote. Bad news for a GOP on the downswing in the nation’s second most populous state. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/96 "2020-10-29T15:08:34Z")
Why not make November 11, already a national holiday, into national voting day? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/97 "2020-10-29T15:20:37Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Why not make November 11, already a national holiday, into national voting day ? I think you might see depressed turnout if you asked people to do anything civic minded on their “day off.” Opening the polls for a period before election day seems to work okay, and 100% mail in voting works perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/98 "2020-10-29T19:56:27Z")
Abbott actually extended the early voting period by an additional week this year. Bet he’s regretting that. And if the Dems capture the House they won’t be able to do much on expanding voting opportunities since Rs have the Senate locked up and Abbott’s still out Governor for at least another two years. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/99 "2020-10-29T21:05:52Z")
I am sure that he is regretting it now that Texas is at 95% of the 2016 vote count with 6 days to go. He will be very unpopular with the rebublicans come reelection time if the state goes for Biden. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2020, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885/100 "2020-10-29T21:09:54Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Why not make November 11, already a national holiday, into national voting day? correct me if I’m wrong, but making mail in voting the default option seems to have higher turnout than in person voting. So we should focus on mail in voting combined with automatic voter registration as the default options. You could still have an election holiday but ideally people won’t be voting then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/58-000-000-americans-have-voted-so-far-10-25/923885.md?page=6)