# Election Night: How do you watch it? (like a sports game?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 21, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307 "2017-08-21T20:22:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/1 "2017-08-21T20:22:42Z")
When Election Night comes around, how do you usually follow it? Do you watch it alone or with family in your living room? Go to a large gathering of political like-minded folks to watch it in a big party? Just follow the results on the Internet? I usually cannot stand to watch television coverage of an election on election night, at least with most elections, so I just hover anxiously over the computer and keep hitting “refresh” while tabbing back and forth between 3-4 different websites. With some elections that left me anxious, I just went to bed bracing myself for the morning’s results, what they may be. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/2 "2017-08-21T20:30:31Z")
I watch the Presidential election the same way a lot of folks watch the Super Bowl. With beer and lots of tasty food. I belong to a Facebook group that’s about 70% Republican and 30% Dem. We love to debate politics, and lots of times we love to snark on each other. Last election, we had a bit of a watching party online. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/3 "2017-08-21T20:32:23Z")
I’m like you: mostly refreshing websites at home. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/4 "2017-08-21T22:46:05Z")
Not American, but: I work for a political party, so I spend election day with my colleagues in our HQ. During the day, while polling stations are open, we’re frantically busy dealing with problems. Then we stay up most of the night to watch the results come in and try to predict the outcome. Last time, I spent 22 hours awake, then got about 4 hours of fitful sleep before heading back to the office. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/5 "2017-08-22T01:06:08Z")
2016 I spent mostly on-line refreshing the NY Times vote reporting and visiting the Dope and Facebook. Much preferred to the talking heads on TV, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/6 "2017-08-22T01:42:54Z")
During the U.K. election, I had BBC news streaming on YouTube live, I was checking the Guardian’s website, and I was logged into work watching the financial markets. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/7 "2017-08-22T02:14:58Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > 2016 I spent mostly on-line refreshing the NY Times vote reporting … [Their chart was quite memorable](https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/article_small/public/thumbnails/image/2016/11/09/05/new-york-times-forecast.jpg). ---
**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:** [August 22, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/8 "2017-08-22T19:16:28Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > [Their chart was quite memorable](https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/styles/article_small/public/thumbnails/image/2016/11/09/05/new-york-times-forecast.jpg). A similar chart could have been made about the chances of thermonuclear war going up exponentially over the course of the evening. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/9 "2017-08-22T19:33:44Z")
I look at the results the next morning. Usually via here. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/10 "2017-08-22T19:43:49Z")
For 2016, I made a list of states listed in order of likelihood of voting for Clinton (or for Trump, if you read it from the other direction), so I could keep a running count of the “expected” results as the states were called; the same went with Senate races, to count the seat changes. As for how I watched it; mainly on CNN. The next day, I checked the California Secretary of State’s website to see how the state propositions did, as well as my county’s website to check on the local races. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/11 "2017-08-22T20:07:55Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > A similar chart could have been made about the chances of thermonuclear war going up exponentially over the course of the evening. You’ll please pardon me if I don’t assign much value to your predictions or guesses on ‘chances of \_\_\_\_’. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/12 "2017-08-22T20:09:27Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > For 2016, I made a list of states listed in order of likelihood of voting for Clinton (or for Trump, if you read it from the other direction), so I could keep a running count of the “expected” results as the states were called … Just curious, how close was your list to 538’s “[snake chart](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/#stateorder)”? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/13 "2017-08-23T09:39:28Z")
I watch elections like a man waiting for his biopsy results. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/14 "2017-08-23T10:18:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I watch elections like a man waiting for his biopsy results. LOL! That was me last November. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/15 "2017-08-23T10:21:41Z")
In 2008, I watched it mostly online and also on CNN. In 2012 I went out to a bar, had a few too many, and came back and trolled some of my right wing Facebook friends online. In 2016, I watched at home with nervous anticipation which quickly turned into gasps of despair. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/16 "2017-08-23T23:49:52Z")
I do both, refreshing results online and enjoying the commentary on TV. ALthough I don’t like the idea of elections being like a sport, once the votes are cast and being counted I do treat it that way. I just wish the campaign wasn’t conducted that way. ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/17 "2017-08-24T00:10:56Z")
I went to election night parties in 2000, 2004, and 2016. I stayed home “alone” (with immediate family) in 1996, 2008, and 2012. The correlation is obvious and I won’t be going to any more wakes, er, parties… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/18 "2017-08-24T00:37:09Z")
I went out and voted (for Clinton). Then I went home and watched some online coverage. Clinton was in the lead. I got bored so I went to the theater and saw _Sausage Party_. Then I stopped and got some groceries. I got home and found out that Trump was winning. I blame Seth Rogen. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/19 "2017-08-24T16:57:34Z")
For Presidential election nights, we throw a big party for 50-75 carefully vetted liberal fellow travellers. The high point is smashing the elephant-shaped pinata. Obviously, we have the TV on, but I usually don’t have the patience to listen to the natterers, so I talk to my friends and keep an eye on 538 for analysis as the evening unfolds. Lessons I have learned are not to start drinking until the outcome is known, because I will likely behave quite badly if I’m already drunk when I get bad news, and not to plan on going to work the next day, because I will certainly be severely hung over and possibly catastrophically depressed as well. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/election-night-how-do-you-watch-it-like-a-sports-game/794307/20 "2017-08-31T21:26:38Z")
The first elections I watched were in the 50s and the coverage was good. I loved to see those vote count displays as they went back and forth between the presidential vote, senate votes, and HR votes. I loved watching those counters scroll. As the years rolled by, this gave way to talking heads, which I can certainly live without–and did. I would check in occasionally to see results. Then in recent years I started just signing on to some election site and updating regularly. The one exception was in 2012 when Jon Stewart teamed up with (Damn, I can’t remember his name–his opposite number on Comedy) to host the election night broadcast. They had maps of every state, divided into counties and comparing the incoming votes with how the same county had voted in 2008. Last year, I flipped the channels and, finding no show that interested me, I went back to the internet. When it was clear that Penna had flipped, I went to bed.