Why states swing while counts come in
Briefly

The 2020 election results in various regions of the U.S. unveiled the disparity in voting methods. Early results reflect predominantly Republican suburban counties, due to their faster reporting, while urban areas and mail-in ballots skew towards Democratic outcomes as they are counted later. This discrepancy leads to a misinterpretation of the overall trends when viewing early returns, highlighting the importance of understanding how different areas report votes based on their specific methods.
The phenomenon observed in the 2020 election results challenges the conventional understanding of voter behavior across different regions. Suburban areas typically report their counts quickly and often lean Republican, while urban centers, which generally favor Democratic candidates, report results later. Mail-in ballots further complicate the picture, as they tend to come in after the initial counts, revealing a more Democratic trend. This shift illustrates how assumptions about statewide results can mislead when not accounting for geographic and temporal differences in reporting.
Read at FlowingData
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