Voter News Service
What the viewer sees on
election night, and in the newspaper the next morning, is the culmination
of months of preparation and planning. A key entity in bringing the results
to the nation is Voter News Service, a cooperative formed by ABC News,
the Associated Press, CBS News, Cable News Network, Fox News and NBC News.
VNS performs two distinct functions. First, it does Election Day exit
polling, surveying voters in randomly selected precincts as they leave
polling places. On November 5, 1996 VNS's national exit poll surveyed 14,651
voters in 300 randomly selected precincts. VNS also does individual state
exit polls. Exit polls provide a window on the concerns of voters and useful
information on variations in voting behavior by gender, race, age, education,
income and other factors. VNS's second function is to collect, tabulate
and distribute unofficial election night vote results for presidential,
Senate, House and gubernatorial races. VNS works with election officials
in every county in the country to gather these results. On election night,
stringers and reporters in tens of thousands of precincts around the country
call in reports to VNS, which then processes and transmits the information.
Showtime
For news organizations,
election night is as good as it gets, a chance to show what they can do.
Anchors man elaborate sets, correspondents around the country file reports,
and, as the evening progresses, states are called one way or another and
the map begins to fill in with red and blue. The
Long Night
Defeat...And Victory Gore
Election Night
At some point in the evening,
the outcome has become apparent to all, not just those with access to the
exit polls. The defeated candidate calls the victor to concede and
then delivers his or her concession speech. The president-elect delivers
his or her victory speech to jubilant supporters.
The Morning After...What Does It Mean?
The days after the election
are peak season for pundits as they assess, analyze, discuss and debate
the meaning of the results. Various interest groups offer their own
post-election assessments, often using the opportunity to point to the
impact their constituency had on the outcome or to launch some barbs at
their opponents.
Election Day: Take 2...The Electoral
College Photos
As you will recall from
high school, the president is not selected by direct popular vote, but
by intermediaries known as electors. The electoral system is outlined in
the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1804 (this significantly
modified the original provisions contained in Article II). Each state has
a number of electors equal to its number of congressmen and Senators. The
District of Columbia has three electors, bringing the total to 538. Most
states use a winner-take-all rule; all the state's electors go to the winner
of the popular vote in the state.
Electors are generally party activists. Some months before the election each party puts together a slate of electors, chosen by congressional district with the exception of the two at-large Senate slots. If the party's presidential candidate wins the popular vote in the state on Election Day, its electors meet in the state capitol on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December 2000. If not they stay home.
Gathering for the mid-December ceremony at the state capitol, electors sign the certificate of vote--actually they sign several copies of the document so there are back-ups. There are separate votes for president and for vice president. Each state sends one copy of the certificate of vote to the Office of the President of the United States Senate. Finally, on January 6th, in a special joint session of Congress these envelopes are opened and tallied and the outcome of the election is officially certified.
 |
Normally this is a routine affair. Because of the Florida controversy, some Democrats [Democrats.com] still had not given up on January 6, 2001 even though Vice President Gore had conceded. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus tried to get Congress to reject Florida's electors, but they could not find a Senator to support their effort [as required by 3 U.S.C. Sect. 15]. |
| Jan. 6, 2001--Vice President Al Gore presided over the joint session of Congress that certified George W. Bush as the winner of the 2000 election. |
Voter Turnout in Recent Years1
| Year | Voting Age Population (VAP) | Total Vote | % VAP Voted |
| 2000 | 205,814,000 | 105,396,475 | 51.2 |
| 1996 | 196,507,000 | 96,277,634 | 49.8 |
| 1992 | 182,628,000 | 104,428,377 | 55.2 |
| 1988 | 182,628,000 | 91,594,805 | 50.1 |
| 1984 | 164,595,000 | 92,653,000 | 53.1 |
| 1980 | 164,595,000 | 86,497,000 | 52.6 |
| 1976 | 152,308,000 | 81,603,000 | 53.5 |
| 1972 | 140,777,000 | 77,625,000 | 55.2 |
1. For the five presidential elections from 1952-1968, turnout hovered around 60%.
Election Night Coverage: What Went
Wrong
The House Subcommittee on
Telecommunications, Trade & Consumer Protection (Commerce), chaired
by Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), held hearings on the effects of the networks'
election night projections on Feb. 14, 2001.
CNN commissioned an independent review panel which produced a report
[Joan
Konner, James Risser, and Ben Wattenberg. "Television's Performance
on Election Night 2000: A Report for CNN," Jan. 29, 2001] (PDF format),
and it is instituting new
policies for election night coverage.
American
Antitrust Institute Calls for Break Up of VNS (11/27/00)
More Useful Links
National Election Studies NES
"Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior"
Electoral College
(National Archives site)
Resolution
Proposing That the Electoral College Be Abolished
Citizens for True
Democracy (seeks abolition of Electoral College)
1992 and 1996 Maps and Results
Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.