Networks Will Be Scrambling To Call Race For Obama Before Voting Is Done
I think there ought to be a moratorium on this kind of nonsense.
We know our voting system is imperfect. From fraudulent voter registrations filed by Obama’s former employers at ACORN to defective voting machines, there are always problems on election day. So does it really make sense to exacerbate those problems by putting pressure on local election officials to release count data so that media outlets can “call” the election before the counting is even done? Are we forgetting what happened in the 2000 election?
What’s particularly troubling is how often media types take into count exit polls when “calling” election results in certain areas of the country. Exit polls are wrong. A lot. And they skew heavily toward liberals, who seem to like to talk to exit pollsters a lot more than conservatives do. So why let those rarely-accurate polls influence people who have not yet voted?
I think that it would be a good thing for this country to enact laws to end the election night horse race put on by the media. I mean, I’m sure it’s good for ratings and everything, but voting officials have enough on their hands without having to feed information to the media. And voters don’t need to be discouraged from the polls by talking heads who like to declare winners before all the votes are in.
I think that it should be official policy that election officials not release vote tallies until at least one day after election day. Let’s allow enough time for everyone to vote, and at least a little time for any kinks to be worked out, before we go declaring winners.
That’d be the optimal way of doing things, but it probably makes too much sense.
