What is a ‘red mirage’ and a ‘blue shift’? Understanding early presidential results
As election officials rush to count votes, those of us keeping track at home may see a "red mirage" before a "blue shift" in the presidential election results.
Historical trends of partisan differences in voting methods mean that in-person voting results tend to favor Republicans. But as more absentee and vote-by-mail ballots are processed, state results could shift back towards the Democrats.
In 2020, Donald Trump prematurely declared victory while early vote counts put him ahead in the race, because his voters were more likely to cast their ballot in-person. He then went on to claim the election had been stolen when mailed-in ballots helped deliver President Joe Biden the necessary votes to win the White House.
Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, key swing states, are not legally allowed to start processing absentee ballots until Election Day, meaning they could take days to count. The Wisconsin Democratic Party chair suggested the state could display a red mirage before a blue shift in this election in an interview on MSNBC on Monday.
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Contributing: Ben Adler, Sarah D. Wire, Erin Mansfield
Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at Paste BN. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com, and follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley.