November 6, 2022
I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m sitting in the desert with a mirage in the background.
Because you’re probably going to hear the terms red mirage or blue mirage on tv on election night. In case you don’t know what that means, I’m going to have a seat and explain them to you.
A red mirage and a blue mirage have to do with how votes are counted and whether a republican or a democrat is in the lead.
Now I did two very important videos last week about how votes are counted – please go watch them. When you do, you’ll learn that every state has different rules for when they can start counting votes. And that timing is what causes a red or blue mirage.
For example, some states allow the early votes, mail-in votes, and the absentee votes to be processed long before election day. So the minute polls close, they can release those results almost immediately or very soon after polls close. And historically, democrats vote early, by mail or absentee. So it may appear in those states – at the beginning the democrats are ahead in lots of races. And that’s where the blue mirage comes in. That early lead *may* be a mirage because the in-person -day of voting totals haven’t been released yet.
And on the flip side, in states that do not allow elections workers to touch those mail-in or absentee ballots until polls close, you might get a red mirage early in the night. Why? Because historically, republicans like to vote in person on election day. So those day of in person votes might get tallied first because it takes time for election workers to open each of the mail in or absentee votes, verify that they’re valid, flatten them out and then run them through the vote counting machines. So in those states it may appear the GOP candidates are ahead early on in the night but that may be the red mirage until those absentee or mail-in votes get counted.
If you want to know some other terms you’ll be hearing on tv I have a whole glossary section in my midterm election guide to help you understand what those people on tv are talking about.
You can get your copy of my Midterm Election Guide here.
