Election Day 2016 LIVE Talkback Thread

[wonderfly]

It's time for the main event!

What's come before now:

2015 Candidates Declaration and Early Debates thread.

2016 Primaries thread

2016 General Election thread.

But after all the debates, interviews, and speeches, the time has come for all Americans to cast their votes.

The election is now! Be sure to get out and vote! Use this thread to share your voting experience, and discuss election results as they come in!

NOTE: The rules for political discussion on the Cafe are still the same. Things may get heated as the results come in, but I would remind people to respect one another as today unfolds.

 

[MDawg]

The end of our long, national nightmare is almost here.

I know one thing I wish would be enacted for the future is a campaign limit. Zero campaigning or ads allowed until 3 months before the election. None of these nearly two-year campaigns. Candidates and especially incumbents shouldn't be spending a majority of time trying to get elected, they should be working for their constituents. You want to run, you have a good game ahead of time and don't make the population suffer your crap.

 

[Dreyfus]

Anyone vote/voting for Jill Stein? Or just me?

 

[Spideyzilla]

Anyone vote/voting for Jill Stein? Or just me?

I think she's going to do better than Gary Johnson, though I won't even attempt guessing the amount of the vote she'll attract. I think people are underestimating the number of Bernie supporters who moved to her. Go on Twitter and search #JillNotHill, you'll see whatI mean. Stein could eat into Clinton's vote a bit in swing states, but I don't see it costing her a big amount of votes.

 

[Dreyfus]

Maybe, but Gary Johnson is probably going to get a lot of disaffected Republicans too, which is great in general because we really need to move toward having more political parties to choose from.

My prediction is that Clinton will probably win handily this year though.

 

[Spideyzilla]

Maybe, but Gary Johnson is probably going to get a lot of disaffected Republicans too, which is great in general because we really need to move toward having more political parties to choose from.

My prediction is that Clinton will probably win handily this year though.

He may, but I think he fumbled much of his support with his clear incompetence. Really, I think most disaffected Republicans will either vote Trump or stay home. The Democrats nominated arguably their most hated person on earth, their persona non grata. That'll be a motivator for them.

 

[ToonJay723]

I plan on voting first thing in the morning. If the line is long, I'll try at 9 AM.

I predict Hilary will win too. Here's how I think it will go down.

If Hilary ends up winning Florida and/or Ohio, I think it's safe to project she wins.

 

[Spideyzilla]

I plan on voting first thing in the morning. If the line is long, I'll try at 9 AM.

I predict Hilary will win too. Here's how I think it will go down.

If Hilary ends up winning Florida and/or Ohio, I think it's safe to project she wins.

If she loses both, then she needs New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Virginia and North Carolina. When the results begin to come in and if your candidate loses Pennsylvania in particular, be very afraid.

 

[Dreyfus]

I'm not as in-depth with the state breakdown as you guys, not sure which exactly are the "battleground" states, but honestly, though I'd prefer Hilary Clinton to Trump, I'm not going to freak out if he wins. I hate that there is so much polarization in the TV news media and with people in general. There are big differences yes, but Clinton is not a candidate I can really support anyway, so if it's Trump, it's Trump. That's democracy. As for Johnson though, I think he will get more traditional Republicans, as a protest vote for people who won't vote for Clinton, but can't bring themselves to vote for Trump.

 

[Spideyzilla]

There's my map, though I'm nowhere near certain about it. Pennsylvania and Florida are the ones that really drove me crazy, and having a combination of those two probably means an election win. Now despite what I said here, I'm nowhere near certain of a Trump defeat, but let me explain why I put some states the way I did first. Then I'll get into why Trump can actually win in my mind.

Michigan is a state I'm nowhere near certain of, but I give Trump a slight edge. This could be the one I'm most wrong about, especially since a few polls give Clinton a slight edge there. I think Trump can really tape into voter anger in Michigan, and can sway plenty of people in Detroit. He's promised to bring Detroit "roaring back," and I can say plenty of fed up people there throwing up their hands and saying "why not?" As Michael Moore stated, Michigan is a perfect example of a state that may go Trump for no other reason than to stick it to the establishment.

I gave Virginia to Clinton because of her slight poll lead there. That would be a devastating loss for her, however.

Florida is super tight, but I think Clinton may edge out a victory. Democrats squeaked a tiny lead in the early voting there, but I don't know if that will translate. The spike of Latino voters in Florida could be a big problem to Trump.

Pennsylvania I gave to Clinton on the basis of the most recent polling, but I really don't know.

I kind of regret giving Arizona to Trump, since the Latino vote there could be a major help to Clinton. I gave it to Trump based on history, but I could be wrong.

Now, here's why I could be wrong and Trump could win. 15% of the electorate is undecided, and that could be huge for Trump. These people are more likely to go into the booth, say "eh, screw it" and vote Trump. Why? The country is angry, and people want to stick it to the man. Those undecided people are more likely to try something new than play it safe, in my mind. If they're not entirely put off by Trump, they're not going to be. I also take the shy Trump voters into account. Don't underestimate them, people who are afraid to admit they're supporting him. We saw that happen in Brexit, it could happen here. So my point is that while I think Clinton may ultimately win, I could easily be wrong.

 

[Scirel]

I agree completely with limiting campaigning. Other countries do it. We can too, have a set election season.

IMO, Trump will win NC due to the early voting data, but I think Clinton will edge out Florida. It looks like Nevada is skewing towards Clinton near the end now.

 

[ToonJay723]

Voted! 6:50 AM Eastern. This is my first time voting. The line were not as long as I was expecting, but I guess it doesn't get hectic until after 5 PM. They only had three scanners, and two of them were broken. One of them got fixed by the time I was front in line. They better hope they get more, and that all of them are working when people get off of work.

 

[Zanneck]

South Carolina is a blood red state and I hate the GOP and everything they stand for that affects minorities like myself (black male pushing 30 who still likes cartoons and hates 98% of anime (barely supporting the 2% that doesn't suck in my eyes here.)).

Save for the small smidgen of Dems running there for the House and Senate in federal forme, Most of my votes were just my polite way of say "I'd proudly rather have Lord Hater from WoY take over my country and rule it with an iron fist, than vote for any of you scumbags!".

 

[MDawg]

Gotta say this was the most-pleasant line time I've had. I mean all of my previous presidential votes have been nice, but they've always been 2 hour plus experiences. This time I went in the morning and I think I spent 30 or so minutes at best in line. I can only imagine how crazy-long that line will be after about 2 or 3 this afternoon. If you have the time to do it early, do it early. You'll be much happier that you did.

 

[Surreal Kangaroo]

In my state we only do mail in ballots. I did mine on Saturday. I voted for Hillary, but that's only because I hate her a teeny, tiny bit less that Trump.

 

[GWOtaku]

Go vote, even if you're mad. You have a perfectly valid write-in option.

 

[Red Arrow]

http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/mid...1956/Screen+Shot+2016-11-08+at+8.00.32+AM.png
Why are there Chinese characters on Trump Jr's ballot paper?

 

[Spideyzilla]

http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/mid...1956/Screen+Shot+2016-11-08+at+8.00.32+AM.png
Why are there Chinese characters on Trump Jr's ballot paper?

I guess there must be a large Chinese population where Eric Trump is voting. You see it in Canada all the time, where the ballots are in French and English.

 

[PinkieLopBun]

Just got back from voting. Was in and out, too. There were some people there, but not enough to have to wait in line. I think it's because people are at work. In a few hours, I'm sure the place will be more packed.

 

[Gatordragon]

Early voter here. I voted last week. All that is left to do now is wait and see what happens...