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Ellen L 😷 Weintraub Profile picture
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2 Nov, 8 tweets, 6 min read
Buckle up!

Election-results-explainer mini-tweetstorm! 🗳🌪

An election is not a reality show with a guaranteed big reveal at the end of the hour. The election isn’t over until we count all the votes. Here’s what to keep in mind as the week goes forward.  

1/8
We do *not* need to know the results of the election on Election Night, and frequently, we haven’t! 

As Princeton history prof @KevinMKruse and I wrote in @NYTimes in May: “Take Some Deep Breaths and Prepare to Wait for Election Results”:

nytimes.com/2020/05/18/opi…

/2
Historian Michael @BeschlossDC notes just how ordinary it is not to know the Presidential election winner on Election Night. We’ve waited past midnight in 40% of the presidential elections in the past 60 years: 1960, 1968, 1976, 2000, 2004, and 2016.



/3
If anyone tells you that all votes must be counted Election Night, point them to Alaska: All absentee ballots and any ballots cast in person during early voting this past weekend won’t even *begin* to be counted until *seven days after Election Day*. 

elections.alaska.gov/Core/alaskavot…

/4
And while we would *all* like to know the results of the presidential election immediately, the first federal deadline for states to get their counts in isn’t until Dec. 8!

The Congressional Research Service (@CRS4Congress) brings the receipts:

crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF…

/5
As tallies come in, I will count on @AP’s election projections: apnews.com/hub/election-2…

Here are some other election projections you can trust:

• ABC: abcnews.go.com/Elections

• CBS: cbsnews.com/live-updates/2…

• NBC: nbcnews.com/politics/2020-…

• CNN: cnn.com/election/2020

/6
A lot goes into certifying vote totals. In 2016, Pennsylvania laid out all the canvasses, reviews, and reconciliations that it takes to arrive at an official result:

governor.pa.gov/newsroom/how-p…

/7
As I have said, the first part of the Election – the Voting – ends on Tuesday.

Then the equally important second part – the Counting – gets rolling everywhere.

The election is not over until all the validly cast ballots are counted. That is how we know for sure who wins.

8/8

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More from @EllenLWeintraub

Ellen L 😷 Weintraub Profile picture
20 Aug
UPDATED THREAD: In 41 states, voters have to fill out an absentee ballot application to get one. Another 5 states have been 100% #VoteByMail for awhile.

So, when the President criticizes "mail-in voting," which states – and I mean *exactly* which states – is he criticizing?

/1
Here are the facts, as of Aug. 20, on which states have made changes to their voting processes, and who's doing what.

Most states, 30 of them, have made no change in their absentee-balloting processes this year.

/2
Twenty states plus DC *have* made a change:

Seven states now allow absentee balloting either requiring no excuse or accepting the coronavirus as an excuse.

/3
Read 8 tweets
Ellen L 😷 Weintraub Profile picture
17 Aug
THREAD: In 41 states, voters have to fill out an application to get an absentee ballot. Another 5 states have been 100% #VoteByMail for awhile.

So, when the President criticizes "mail-in voting," which states – and I mean *exactly* which states – is he criticizing?

/1
Here are the facts, as of Aug. 17, on which states have made changes to their voting processes, and who's doing what.

Most states, 32 of them, have made no change in their absentee-balloting processes this year.

/2 Image
Eighteen states plus DC *have* made a change:

Six states now allow absentee balloting either requiring no excuse or accepting the coronavirus as an excuse.

/3 Image
Read 8 tweets
Ellen L 😷 Weintraub Profile picture
7 Aug
I can’t be more blunt about this: Mr. President, Members of Congress, should you fail to provide the funds America needs for its elections, you will be derelict in your duty to your country. It would be a devastating failure to protect our democracy in a moment of historic need.
It’s been estimated that this election will cost an additional $4 billion due to the coronavirus. $400 million has been allocated already; another $3.6 billion is needed. /2

brennancenter.org/events/saving-…
Election administrators warn of 'epic failure' if the federal government fails to provide funding. /3

Read 13 tweets
Ellen L 😷 Weintraub Profile picture
21 Jul
No. It really won’t.



1/4
Baseless conspiracy theories about voter fraud undermine faith in our democracy and deter citizens from voting, which no one should want.

2/4
National security experts agree that we urgently need more federal funding for our elections.

brennancenter.org/our-work/resea…

But all we are getting is unfounded conspiracy theories about the method of voting that Americans overwhelmingly want to be able to use this fall.

3/4
Read 4 tweets
Ellen L 😷 Weintraub Profile picture
28 May
🚨🚨🚨Thread!

Buckle up.

1/66

It’s been claimed that voting by mail leads to massive corruption and fraud. But what are the facts?
2/
U.S. citizens will vote by mail this year in record numbers. In the face of a global health emergency, election officials across the country from both parties are working heroically to ensure that voting by mail is accurate, accessible, safe & secure.
3/
There's simply no basis for the conspiracy theory that voting by mail causes fraud. None.

@CNN & @washingtonpost fact-checks show this. But many others have examined the issue and arrived at the same conclusion. Still others have provided some key context. Take a look!
Read 66 tweets
Ellen L 😷 Weintraub Profile picture
9 Jan
Today’s the 8th birthday of #SCOTUS’s affirmance of Bluman v. @FEC!

This critically important case held that the U.S. has a “compelling interest” in limiting the political activities of foreigners, thus protecting our political system from foreign political influence.

/1
The court concluded that Canadian lawyer Benjamin Bluman’s proposed activity was illegal: not just his three proposed $100 campaign contributions, but also merely paying to copy a flyer supporting President Obama’s re-election to hand out in Central Park.

/2
Then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh wrote the underlying opinion:“It is fundamental to the definition of our national political community that foreign citizens do not have a constitutional right to participate in, and thus may be excluded from, activities of democratic self-government.”/3
Read 4 tweets

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