Quote:
Originally Posted by GirlySports
But I think in the US they can start counting and reporting the eastern time counties first? There aren't blackout rules like in Canada. Also I believe Florida has already counted the advanced ballots.
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I believe that rule was changed after the 2000 debacle. In that election, they started reporting the Florida results when polls in the Eastern Time Zone closed. The tv networks initially called Florida as a win for Al Gore based on early results, and many voters who were queuing to vote in the Central Time Zone areas of the state went home since it was already "over". Then more votes came in and the state moved back into the undecided column. Ultimately the Supreme Court intervened to stop the recount in a purely partisan 5-4 ruling, and George W. Bush was declared the winner.
AFAIK, since that disaster, Florida no longer announces any results until polls have closed across the entire state.