# Election Day \[Week\]\[Month\[s\]\] \[Year\] 2020 follow-along thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 3, 2020, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618 "2020-11-03T05:36:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 316
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6310 "2020-11-18T02:57:17Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > The decision to certify _came during the Hannity show_ . Ha! I love it. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6311 "2020-11-18T03:00:01Z")
Man, the sad trombone has become the soundtrack of this interregnum ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6312 "2020-11-18T03:31:29Z")
And to think that 3 weeks ago I was terrified that Trump was going to be able to use the courts to steal the election. It’s turned out to be hilarious instead. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6313 "2020-11-18T03:35:49Z")
[Schadenfreude.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers/925537/48) ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6314 "2020-11-18T03:41:40Z")
Great article here by Thomas Friedman in the NYT: > **[Opinion | How Can We Trust This G.O.P. in Power Again? (Published 2020)](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/17/opinion/trump-democracy-republican-party.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage)** > > With Biden’s election, American democracy narrowly escaped disaster. > [@](#): > > “…That’s why this was our greatest expression of American democratic vitality since Abraham Lincoln defeated Gen. George B. McClellan in 1864 — in the midst of a civil war. And that’s why Donald Trump’s efforts to soil this election, with his fraudulent claims of voting fraud, are so vile. > > If Trump and his enablers had resisted for only a day or two, OK, no big deal. But the fact that they continue to do so, flailing for ways to overturn the will of the people, egged on by their media toadies — Lou Dobbs actually [said on Fox Business](https://twitter.com/loudobbs/status/1327660246089801735) that the G.O.P. should refuse to accept the election results that deny Trump “what is rightfully his” — raises this question: > > How do you trust this version of the Republican Party to ever hold the White House again?” > > “…That is why we are so very lucky that this election broke for Joe Biden. If this is how this Republican Party behaves when Trump loses, imagine how willing to tolerate his excesses it would have been had he won?” > > “…And the people who understood that best were democrats all over the world — particularly in Europe. Because they’ve watched Trump-like, right-wing populists in Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Belarus, as well as the Philippines, get themselves elected and then take control of their courts, media, internet and security institutions and use them to try to cripple their opponents and lock themselves into office indefinitely.” ---
**Author:** ![erpa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e56c9b/32.png) [@erpa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erpa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6315 "2020-11-18T03:45:10Z")
Can someone identify the source of the video in that Twitter link? Was it public input to the Wayne County Board of Canvassers? OMG, if Monica Palmer and William Hartmann viewed that real-time and then changed their votes, that would be like a made for TV special. Makes me want to drive to Michigan and buy that man a beer. Or a case. Keg? Ok, lifetime supply!!! ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6316 "2020-11-18T04:10:22Z")
How lame is that? Their whole strategy was to lose the election and then try and get a judge to just hand them the win. > ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6317 "2020-11-18T04:18:03Z")
[The dude was Ned Staebler](https://economicdevelopment.wayne.edu/staebler), who served as a Democratic poll watcher and works at Wayne State. I believe his smackdown was indeed on a public input zoom meeting, but not certain. Dude’s a hero. [Anyway, right-wingers online are now claiming he threatened the GOP members of the board of canvassers, and that he should be locked up/held accountable/etc/etc/etc/etc…](https://www.google.com/search?q=ned+staebler&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS901US901&sxsrf=ALeKk01deSyb6HTSXBSXA_2T8D4u7ZLHkg:1605672755204&source=lnt&tbs=qdr:h&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjk4suRnYvtAhXVLs0KHRp-DngQpwV6BAgMECA&biw=1280&bih=610) (My second link is to Google results for “Ned Staebler,” showing results from the past hour; it will likely change, but right now it’s all to links from right wingnuts saying what an abusive asshole he is and how he needs to be criminally charged.) ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6318 "2020-11-18T05:38:03Z")
There’s an idiot who replied to that tweet who said: > [@](#): > > “With less than 100k decisive votes out of 150 million this needs to go to congress.” What a disingenuous way to spin things. First off, Trump won in 2016 by a comparably small number of “decisive votes” in just three states, and nobody was clamoring to send the election to Congress. (Not to mention the 537 “decisive votes” that Bush won by in 2000.) Secondly, this conveniently ignores Biden’s projected “landslide win” in electoral votes (to use Trump’s own definition from back in 2016 when he won by the same margin), not to mention the nearly **6 million** total votes that Trump has lost by. These Trumpers are really grasping at straws. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6319 "2020-11-18T06:43:46Z")
Yeah, I think they noted the tumbrels and guillotine being erected outside and got smart, really quick. We are not gonna stand for a stolen election. And most of the GOP realizes that actually, the overall results werent bad for them at all. Likely they will win half of the two seats for GA, leaving them 51/49. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6320 "2020-11-18T06:47:34Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > We are not gonna stand for a stolen election. No; we are not. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6321 "2020-11-18T07:12:05Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Likely they will win half of the two seats for GA, leaving them 51/49. I think more likely the Republicans will win both. They might split, they might win neither. But both are chosen at large and traditionally run-off turnout favors the Republicans, particularly in reddish-tinged purple states like Georgia. In these polarized times I expect mostly straight ticket voting. I’ll be quite happy if Abrams & Co can swing one or both seats over to the Democrats, but my expectation is that they will swing neither. Then again I never thought Biden had a shot in Georgia, so we’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6322 "2020-11-18T07:41:23Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > But both are chosen at large and traditionally run-off turnout favors the Republicans, particularly in reddish-tinged purple states like Georgia. In these polarized times I expect mostly straight ticket voting. The run-off system was put in place after the civil war to ensure that the winners would be white (and Democrats, due to the way the parties split in the South). In a plurality takes all system a black person could win. But the run-off system provided a “fail-safe.” If Warnock wins, it will truly be in an election that was rigged against him. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6323 "2020-11-18T12:48:58Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > The run-off system was put in place after the civil war to ensure that the winners would be white Fascinating— makes (awful) sense. This should be more widely known. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6324 "2020-11-18T13:05:12Z")
That’s evident with the Warnock-Loeffler senate race. If a plurality were sufficient to win the race (as in most other states), Warnock would have already won. (Of course, Perdue would also have already won in the Perdue-Ossoff senate race.) ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6325 "2020-11-18T13:52:15Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Likely they will win half of the two seats for GA, leaving them 51/49. I’d be very surprised if this was the outcome. Even beside the inherent Republican advantage in a runoff, why would any voters split their votes Purdue/Warnock or Loeffler/Ossoff? I think the most likely outcomes are both Rs win, followed by both Ds win, with a split a distant third. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6326 "2020-11-18T14:01:30Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > The run-off system was put in place after the civil war to ensure that the winners would be white (and Democrats, due to the way the parties split in the South). In a plurality takes all system a black person could win. But the run-off system provided a “fail-safe.” If Warnock wins, it will truly be in an election that was rigged against him. Striving to fight my own ignorance: What are the nuts-and-bolts logistics of the Georgia run-off. Does everyone have to go physically to a polling place on just one day? Are there any mail-in or absentee ballots-- if there are, who gets them and how do they get them? Early voting or extended voting? Has some expert estimated the projected turnout vis a vis the number that voted in the original election? For example, a run-off is usually 15% (made-up number) of those who voted the first time. The only thing on the ballot will be these two Senatorial seats, right? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6327 "2020-11-18T14:13:05Z")
> [@robby](#): > > That’s evident with the Warnock-Loeffler senate race. If a plurality were sufficient to win the race (as in most other states), Warnock would have already won. > > (Of course, Perdue would also have already won in the Perdue-Ossoff senate race.) The plurality winners being split is probably why @DrDeth was assuming a split was the most likely final outcome. That is what I naively assumed as well–not having looked into it deeper yet. What I have read so far is that the Democratic GOTV efforts were impressive in Georgia, to the point that it seemed to have flipped it blue for the presidential election. This is why I have some hope that I wouldn’t have normally for Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6328 "2020-11-18T14:24:28Z")
I’m pinning my hopes for Georgia on this: There are a certain number of MAGAbots who are extremely motivated and will crawl on broken glass to vote _when Donald is on the ballot._ If their hero is not on the ballot, some of them will stay home. On the other side, Stacey Abrams has an impressive registration and mobilization apparatus in place. Will it be enough? I don’t know. I wouldn’t bet either way. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618/6329 "2020-11-18T14:27:22Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > The run-off system was put in place after the civil war to ensure that the winners would be white (and Democrats, due to the way the parties split in the South). Explanation, please. What is the run-off system, and how does it ensure the winners are white democrats? (Wiki lists several different systems under the title [runoff voting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runoff_voting).) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618.md?page=315) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-day-week-month-s-year-2020-follow-along-thread/924618.md?page=317)