Key Takeaways:
– The city of Milwaukee in Wisconsin is reported to tally its early votes during early hours after election day.
– MSNBC host, Joe Scarborough, finds the decision to delay counting discouraging.
– Steve Kornacki, polling analyst, clarifies that this is a local decision, not a state-wide policy.
– The unusual counting procedure draws criticism as it fuels misinformation and speculation.
News Article:
As the U.S. Presidential election looms, some trends stand out among the voting procedures across various states. One of which is the peculiar practice happening in Wisconsin, specifically in its biggest city, Milwaukee. It appears that this city takes its time when it comes to confirming early votes, a move which has raised more than a few eyebrows.
Milwaukee’s Vote Counting Quirk
Typically, early votes are some of the first to be counted on election day or in some cases, even beforehand. However, Milwaukee begs to differ. Instead of partaking in standard counting procedures, the city gathers all the initial votes and counts them surreptitiously in the small hours of the next day.
This oddity doesn’t end there. It gets more intriguing as the city ships all these votes to a separate location to be counted. In essence, we’re talking in excess of 100,000 early votes, potentially more, all being tallied after the rest of the country is asleep, often as late as 1:00 to 3:00 in the morning.
A Source of Controversy
Joe Scarborough, the host of MSNBC’s morning show, reacted incredulously to this revelation. In a discussion with polling analyst, Steve Kornacki, Scarborough expressed his disbelief. He couldn’t understand why the early votes, which could be counted earlier, were being handled off-site and at such late hours.
Referring to Florida’s voting protocol as an example, Scarborough asked why Wisconsin couldn’t follow suit. Florida, which also accumulates numerous early votes, manages to count them swiftly, often releasing results by 8:30 to 9:00 if not earlier. He held reservations over Wisconsin’s methods, particularly on how it could potentially feed into the misinformation propagated by controversial figures.
Municipal Decision Stirs Debate
In the face of Scarborough’s criticism, Kornacki pointd out that this wasn’t a state-wide technique. Rather, it was Milwaukee’s own policy, even amidst calls for change by the public and some political figures.
Yet why has Milwaukee not budged from its decision? Kornacki speculated that the city wanted to highlight a clear distinction between the early votes and election day votes. However, he agreed such practice could do with improvement given the doubts and controversy it stirs up.
Regardless of the rationale behind it, this method is not exclusive to Milwaukee. Several other municipalities in Wisconsin follow the same protocol. But, as Kornacki pointed out, Milwaukee stands out due to its size and the number of votes it deals with.
While the local decision stands, many ask whether the procedure serves any real purpose or if it simply adds to the muddle of the U.S. electoral process. With the final results already shrouded in uncertainty, the late-night counting only stirs up more speculation. Ultimately, such voting peculiarities serve as reminders of the decentralized American voting system where local authorities often call the shots concerning their electoral procedures.