parker higgins @xor.blue · Jun 9 this is the thing that really bugs me about california's slow vote counting. reporters can't help but describe it in terms of momentum, when it's really scanning across a snapshot
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I get it, but the problem isn’t the system in this instance. I know, that’s weird right?
ballots postmarked ON election day AND delivered by usps up to SEVEN days AFTER election day (tomorrow) are counted and added to the tabulations. that's the rules. ballots received through close of biz tomorrow get counted.
in principle I don't think we need (or should expect) immediate results, but treating the ongoing count as a time series messes with people's understandings
I prefer “deliberate” over “slow.”
This makes no sense. There are votes to be counted. You are not “ahead” in any meaningful way because we started counting the votes in a place people vote for you more than the other candidates
It is like looking at a grocery receipt. It starts off & healthy things are in a huge lead, because those are on the belt first. Then canned goods make a showing, & finally the 5 boxes of ice cream bars takes the top spot.
I don't think they should announce preliminary results at all. Just daily counts of number of ballots received, counted, and where they are from. Only final results.