Thread by @AriMelber, People often rely on precedents, because the past is usually a general [...]

Ari Melber

AriMelber

People often rely on precedents, because the past is usually a general guide for how things go.

But precedents may be *misleading* for this year's presidential election...

There may be no clear winner declared on Election Night.

It is now taking *much* longer for states to count all ballots.

Covid is not just "doubling or tripling" how many people vote by mail - absentee ballots spiked by *FIFTEEN* times in primaries in PA & NV

So a close presidential election could take days or weeks to decide.

That could be the electoral & legal reality; there may be nothing *illegitimate* about it -- other than "expectations" that races are typically resolved faster.

("Typical" is basically arbitrary; The 2000 presidential election took 35 days; only the legal deadlines matter.)

Democracy expert @WendyRWeiser walks through the facts showing how this is all changing fast, along with her ideas to protect voting rights and vote-by-mail: https://www.newsweek.com/protect-democracy-expand-vote-mail-opinion-1511996

To protect democracy, expand vote by mail | Opinion

Voting is a cherished right, and it is imperative that government ensure more people are able to exercise it.

https://www.newsweek.com/protect-democracy-expand-vote-mail-opinion-1511996

. @AmyEGardner has a useful breakdown of data & policy implications-how states are adjusting to a new voting reality

Many "rules virtually guarantee that results won’t be available on the night of the election .. the public [must] shift its expectations" https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/barring-a-landslide-whats-probably-not-coming-on-nov-3-a-result-in-the-race-for-the-white-house/2020/06/22/88ada5fa-b181-11ea-8758-bfd1d045525a_story.html

Barring a landslide, what’s probably not coming on Nov. 3? A result in the race for the White House.

An expected surge in mail balloting amid the coronavirus pandemic means close counts in key states between President Trump and Joe Biden could take days, even weeks, to resolve.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/barring-a-landslide-whats-probably-not-coming-on-nov-3-a-result-in-the-race-for-the-white-house/2020/06/22/88ada5fa-b181-11ea-8758-bfd1d045525a_story.html

You can follow @AriMelber.

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