One Man's Opinion: Whichever way things go

As a political analyst and columnist, I try to provide an informed opinion, based on known and generally agreed facts. We will not likely know the winner of the White House and multiple other contests, the night of Tuesday, Nov. 3, or even the morning after. The networks and other news outlets may forecast or project winners, based on actual returns tabulated at that point as well as Exit Polling projections, but there are several major flaws with that strategy.

Exit polling data has been horribly off the past two Presidential election cycles, AND in most states where multiple forms of voting exist, an interesting trend has developed, which is also playing out in Georgia. Biden voters and Democrats are choosing to vote early, by absentee and dropbox, U.S. mail, or early voting (65 percent of Democratic self-identified voters). The reverse is true for supporters of the President, with only 35 percent planning to vote ahead of Election Day. In addition, multiple states will be allowing the tabulation of mail-in ballots which arrive as late as  seven days after Election Day. In many close contests, those late ballots may decide many a contest, as well as the awarding of the Electoral College ballots of that state.