2014 Election Megathread

[katmai]

Early results from Alaska have GOP taking back the other senate seat, independent beating incumbent GOP governor and legal pot passing.

[derspiess]

Cool, cool.

[CountDeMoney]

Cool, cool.

  Like you're all up in it, Capone.

[Syt]

How was the voter turnout?

[Scipio]

Four more years of Silly government ahead of us.

[Admiral Yi]

How was the voter turnout?

I think Iowa might have set a record for an off year.

Had to have set a record for ads in an off year.

[derspiess]

Sandra Fluke lost her race.  I has a sad

[Ed Anger]

Sandra Fluke lost her race.  I has a sad

[Grey Fox]

Sandra Fluke lost her race.  I has a sad

Then this is good news!

[derspiess]

[derspiess]

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-polls-were-skewed-toward-democrats/

[CountDeMoney]

How was the voter turnout?

Across Maryland, apparently 40% of registered voters, compared to 54% in 2010.

Baltimore city itself had the worst, though;  about 19% of registered voters, compared to 34% in 2010.  Pretty sad numbers, even for Dazzling Urbanites.

[derspiess]

Ohio was 40% as well, down from 49% in 2010.

[Grey Fox]

We had elections this past sunday in Quebec...turnout 4%.

Ok, it was school boards elections.

[CountDeMoney]

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-polls-were-skewed-toward-democrats/

This type of error is not unprecedented — instead it's rather common. As I mentioned, a similar error occurred in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2012. It's been about as likely as not, historically. That the polls had relatively little bias in a number of recent election years — including 2004, 2008 and 2010 — may have lulled some analysts into a false sense of security about the polls.

Which is why relying so heavily on statistical analysis in a discipline that doesn't lend itself well to predictive analytics--namely, Political Science--sucks so much.  Politics is a crap shoot subject to human whim, not a science.  IM A POLI CRAP MAJOR