Hey guys, please ignore this type of garbage. The truth is that elections are never decided on election night. In Utah (and most states) it takes 2 weeks to finalize counting and certify results. It really doesn’t matter who is ahead on election night, it only matters when every eligible vote is counted and each county canvasses and certifies the vote totals. Yes it’s true that when a race isn’t close the media may “call” the race, and candidates may concede or declare custody, but such actions are technically meaningless.
On some level I know this, but I keep forgetting it. So why do we have nonstop TV coverage on election night? One reason: ratings. Another reason: ratings. Also, it seems that a lot of people confuse elections with sports or the Oscars and think they have to follow every detail of the game. Myself, I have not watched election night since the 60s. I watched the World Series once or twice in the same era; as you can see, I was very young at the time, and knew no better. And the main reason I stopped was that I realized that watching it was a waste of my time, and that I could find out what mattered in the morning. Or the morning after that.
I should backpedal here, slightly: If you're a person to whom sports contests matter, it makes sense to watch them, because you care about how the teams get to the ending. It's the journey, not the destination, etc. That's fair, and it makes it all the clearer why watching election returns come in is a waste of time, because the coverage isn't about how you get there. If there are problems such as election fraud, they're not important to the networks, and they're not likely to turn up on election night. I realize that for many people, getting together and watching the returns come in is an enjoyable social event. I don't think this election in particular is going to fall into the category of enjoyable events, no matter how it turns out. But watching it play out is part of the larger misconception of politics that got us to this point. If you want to have a party on election night, watch a movie with your friends instead.
If I had dictatorial power, there would be no election night coverage at all. If the media cared about the importance of informing the public, there would be no election night coverage at all - except maybe for anchorpersons repeating over and over again that you don't need to hear reports of incoming returns, because the election won't be settled for a week or two. In the digital age, the announcements could be looped to save the anchorpersons' voices. But on the other hand, to hell with that; they deserve to exhaust themselves after years of horserace coverage and fake predictions.
