The argument I've heard from some US-Americans supporting the practice is that it's not the same election - i.e. you aren't electing Joe Biden, you are electing members of the electoral college for state XXX.
You’re not electing members of the electoral college though right? You’re electing who you want the electoral college members to vote for.
Re:The Polish Election Bazaar
by iainmerrick on Sunday October 15, 2023 @04:53PM
(#37893295)
That’s a really flimsy defence.
Most media waits to make calls until polls close on the west coast.
But the incremental results: we have distributed elections. For the people reporting results the election is over.
That’s just a variation of the effects of mass market elections.
If you only vote for president? There’s no reason to go to the polls in the majority of states.
The problems even worse in Australia where voting is mandatory with a fine but if you’re in Western Australia you could be “forced” to vote in an already concluded election.
Re:The Polish Election Bazaar
by AussieWog93 on Sunday October 15, 2023 @05:26PM
(#37893530)
That's a pretty big oversimplification.
Western Australians are voting for completely different MPs and Senators to people in other states/electorates, and even if they weren't it's a small price to pay compared to having half the country not turn up on voting day.
Re:The Polish Election Bazaar
by nopassrecover on Monday October 16, 2023 @12:42AM
(#37895994)
Agreed - what would be the harm in holding counting, or at least publishing/communicating counts, until all votes have been cast?
IMHO there's a lot of little and big things that feel quite bizarre about US democracy when compared to most others. A consequence of being both the first-ish and never having a government change.
The practice of the media predicting results based on exit polls and then everyone just treating them as if they're authoritative is equally bizarre.