• Democrat wins Va. House seat in recount by single vote; creating 50-50 tie in legislature
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[url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/democrat-wins-va-house-seat-in-recount-by-single-vote-creating-50-50-tie-in-legislature/2017/12/19/3ff227ae-e43e-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html?utm_term=.82f2b85b50fa]Source[/url] [quote]NEWPORT NEWS — A Republican seat flipped Democratic in a wild recount Tuesday - with the Democrat winning by a single vote - creating a rare 50-50 tie between the parties in the House of Delegates and refashioning the political landscape in Richmond. Democrat Shelly Simonds emerged from the recount as the apparent winner in the 94th District of the House of Delegates, seizing the seat from Republican incumbent David Yancey. A three-judge panel still must certify the results, an event scheduled for Wednesday. Of the 23,866 votes cast in the Newport News district on Election Day, Yancey held a tenuous lead of just 10 votes going into Tuesday’s recount. But five hours and much nailbiting later, after painstaking counting overseen by local elections officials and the clerk of court, Yancey’s lead narrowed before it gradually disappeared and then reversed, allowing Simonds to beat him by one vote. [B]The final tally: 11,608 for Simonds to 11,607 for Yancey.[/B][/quote] Blue wave baby. Virginia is going back to blue real quick.
And people say votes don't matter. One vote!
A single PERSON flipped the Virginia House of Delegates: the oldest continuously running legislature in the western hempisphere
It'll have to be a bipartisan/nonpartisan redistricting process in 2020, then. RIP gerrymandering
2017 has been pretty dope when it comes to US elections.
[QUOTE=TheBorealis;52990651]2017 has been pretty dope when it comes to US elections.[/QUOTE] for once it feels like people are actually taking voting seriously
IIRC the Democrats are thought to need about a 4-point lead in order to take the House in 2018 [media]https://twitter.com/ForecasterEnten/status/943241347061784576[/media]
Its entirely possible you'll see a similar thing in the UK if the last election was anything to go by. Brexit and Trump have done wonders for energizing apathetic left wing voters, especially younger people.
[QUOTE=proboardslol;52990632]A single PERSON flipped the Virginia House of Delegates: the oldest continuously running legislature in the western hempisphere[/QUOTE] I think we can thank every one of the 11,608 people. Technically, every single one of them flipped the HoD
[QUOTE=Fort83;52990689]Has there ever been an election in the US so close that literally 1 voter changed the outcome? Like does that happen often or is this a super rare occurrence.[/QUOTE] I doubt it, get ready for the Republican conspiracy machine to spin into overdrive.
[QUOTE=Fort83;52990689]Has there ever been an election in the US so close that literally 1 voter changed the outcome? Like does that happen often or is this a super rare occurrence.[/QUOTE] The US has so many elections that it happens all the time and there have even been many elections where the vote was exactly tied, but it's pretty unusual for it to flip a whole state legislature [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_close_election_results[/url]
is this good
[QUOTE=proboardslol;52990632]A single PERSON flipped the Virginia House of Delegates: the oldest continuously running legislature in the western hempisphere[/QUOTE] It wasn't one person. It was the vote of every single Democrat who came out to vote that did this.
[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;52990725]It wasn't one person. It was the vote of every single Democrat who came out to vote that did this.[/QUOTE] I think it's the idea that it would have only taken [I]two[/I] of those aforementioned Democrats to [I]not care enough[/I] to vote to have the result go the entire other way. Hell, maybe it [I]was[/I] two voters on the [I]Republican[/I] side that didn't care enough, or thought it was in the bag enough to warrant not coming out to vote :u
[QUOTE=RainbowStalin;52990677]Its entirely possible you'll see a similar thing in the UK if the last election was anything to go by. Brexit and Trump have done wonders for energizing apathetic left wing voters, especially younger people.[/QUOTE] I don't even think millenials are to blame, they by and large vote against this ultra conservative stuff and are pretty good at getting out to vote, its just this voting block is hampered by gerrymandering, clustered demographics and age, fortunately the baby boomers are going to drop off and they did in the 2016 election, while millenials will only becone a larger share of the electorate [editline]19th December 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Fort83;52990689]Has there ever been an election in the US so close that literally 1 voter changed the outcome? Like does that happen often or is this a super rare occurrence.[/QUOTE] Not usually on this scale but then state seats are so weird elections in general
[QUOTE=Fox Powers;52990707]is this good[/QUOTE] It's a sure sign that the GOP is failing hard, bodes well for the US senate and/or house seats that are up for grabs.
[QUOTE=Fox Powers;52990707]is this good[/QUOTE] It will hopefully enable them to pass legislation taking redistricting out of the hands of the legislature
[QUOTE=Orkel;52990625]And people say votes don't matter. One vote![/QUOTE] This is why local elections, not national, should be where people flock to. It not only has the most direct impact on people's daily lives, but where your vote has the most impact as well.
Republican salt is gonna be fierce.
Glad I went out to vote this year. The near-tie wasn't in my district (mine went blue by a mile), but voting is still important.
[QUOTE=Medevila;52990952]...and our turnout is still abysmal!! voter registration should be opt-out[/QUOTE] The GOP would never allow a measure that allows people to more easily vote. They'd fight it tooth and nail, because unrestricted voting for all US citizens would effectively destroy the Republican party's ability to gain majority control on a national level.
Wasn't exactly as small as a literal single vote, but the 2000 Presidential election that gave W. Bush his first term was decided on 537 votes in the state of Florida. That's the population of a small rural town, probably less than the number of students enrolled at the high school you graduated from, and it swung an entire Presidential election. Stuff can get incredibly down to the wire sometimes.
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;52990962]The GOP would never allow a measure that allows people to more easily vote. They'd fight it tooth and nail, because unrestricted voting for all US citizens would effectively destroy the Republican party's ability to gain majority control on a national level.[/QUOTE] Yup. Politics 101. Larger voter turnout benefits the Dems over the Repubs, smaller turnout pushes the advantage to the Repubs and away from the Dems. All the talk of voter fraud is just an excuse, they have every incentive to make going to the polls inconvenient.
[QUOTE=Maegord;52990968]Wasn't exactly as small as a literal single vote, but the 2000 Presidential election that gave W. Bush his first term was decided on 537 votes in the state of Florida. That's the population of a small rural town, probably less than the number of students enrolled at the high school you graduated from, and it swung an entire Presidential election. Stuff can get incredibly down to the wire sometimes.[/QUOTE] Eh there was way too many arbitrary decisions involved with florida to really say if it was 537
[QUOTE=proboardslol;52990632]A single PERSON flipped the Virginia House of Delegates: the oldest continuously running legislature in the western hempisphere[/QUOTE] Yeah but what's the point in voting if I'm [I]not[/I] that single person, huh?
[QUOTE=GoDong-DK;52992084]Yeah but what's the point in voting if I'm [I]not[/I] that single person, huh?[/QUOTE] That's why you always make sure to show up super late for the polls, to cast [I]the[/I] deciding vote.
Update: Three judges have ruled to include a ballot that should've been seen as spoiled due to multiple candidates being marked - thus making it a tie. They will now draw lots to determine who won. None of this is a joke. It is also directly against the code -- which states if multiple candidates are marked the ballot is spoiled. They're choosing to ignore that - the justification being 'but the slash through the D's bubble means they 'erased that vote' and so they only voted for one candidate - and so we must honor their intent' Also if the loser of that tie decides [I]they don't want to accept the result[/I] then they can just ask for another recount. [quote]Code of Virginia § 24.2-663. When ballot void. If a printed ballot is found to have been voted for a greater number of names for any one office than the number of persons required to fill the office, or if the title of the office is erased, the ballot shall be considered void as to all the names designated to fill such office, but no further, and the ballot shall be counted for the other offices on the ballot.[/quote] Also: [url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/court-tosses-out-one-vote-victory-in-recount-that-had-briefly-ended-a-republican-majority-in-virginia/2017/12/20/ed979a70-e5b9-11e7-a65d-1ac0fd7f097e_story.html?utm_term=.4c2ded65486d]Source.[/url] Reporter's sketch of the vote in question. [media]https://twitter.com/JWPascale/status/943559301737713665[/media]
Wow that's slimy. Where did you hear that?
Edited the source to my post, reporting is from the Washington Post.
So it looks like there will be another recount. IMO, that's a good thing. One vote is almost certainly within the margin of error anyway.
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