Editing 2068: Election Night

{{comic
| number    = 2068
| date      = November 5, 2018
| title     = Election Night
| image     = election_night.png
| titletext = "Even the blind—those who are anxious to hear, but are not able to see—will be taken care of. Immense megaphones have been constructed and will be in use at The Tribune office and in the Coliseum. The one at the Coliseum will be operated by a gentleman who draws $60 a week from Barnum & Bailey's circus for the use of his voice."
}}

==Explanation==
This is the third comic in a row that deals with elections in the United States; the trio has been published in the week before the {{w|United States elections, 2018|US midterm elections held on November 6, 2018}} and it compares media coverage on election results in 1896 and 2018. During this time the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Header_text|Header text]] of xkcd was also changed three times, including on the release days of both this and the previous comic, to help people go and vote. See more in the [[#Election related header texts|trivia section]].

While elections and voting have been a public staple for generations, election coverage by the media can result in {{w|voter fatigue}}.  While voter fatigue is considered a major criticism of things like {{w|First-past-the-post_voting|first past the post}} voting systems, media outlets will also contribute.  

The time traveler from 1896, wearing a {{w|top hat}} (the typical hat used at that time), presents [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] a method how the latest news --over the night-- is published to the public. No broadcasting television or even radio existed then and most newspapers, reaching the readers on the next morning, were printed in the evening before the election results were certain.  For the [https://www.270towin.com/1896_Election/ election referenced in this clipping], Republican candidate {{w|William McKinley}} (assigned the color Blue) won in a close race against Democrat-Populist candidate {{w|William J. Bryan}} (assigned the color Red).

Here, [[Randall]] is taking a unique opportunity to point out that unlike our recollection of history (which is usually modified by the {{w|misinformation effect}}, where we perceive the past as being easier and find a source to blame for the election night jitters) that in fact, in the past, a bombardment of fireworks every hour was used to convey the hour-by-hour play of the election night, a significantly more jarring effect that couldn't even be turned off.  We have progressed, in some ways, to a more opt-in system, rather than the {{w|opt-out}} system of the past, where you had to leave Chicago to avoid the news.

The part about the "jiggling needle" may be a reference to the [https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/the-new-york-times-election-needle-is-back-with-a-few-new-safety-features New York Times' 2016 presidential election results] webpage, which displayed a "needle" it used to forecast the results of the presidential election between then-candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.  The position of the needle was initially set based on pre-election polls, pointing heavily toward Hillary Clinton, but as election results from around the country -- and from individual counties within states -- started coming in it changed to reflect those results.  Especially near the beginning, before a lot of real election data had come in, results reported from small counties could dramatically swing the needle to one side or the other when coming from heavily Democratic or Republican districts, then swing again when another county reported.  Only when a significant amount of data had come in did the needle settle down and move more incrementally.

The title text explains that in 1896 even blind people were taken care of, as enormous megaphones were installed to convey the news equally unavoidably to those who couldn't (or didn't want to) see the color bombs. This is in fact true but was intended for those in the Coliseum, not all of Chicago.

==Transcript==

:[Megan and Cueball face each other while talking on the left of the panel]
:Megan: Ugh, I'm just going to hide out for election night. We'll know the results the next day anyway. The drama is so unnecessary.
:Cueball: Yeah. The internet and the 24-hour news have turned elections into a continuous, inescapable media onslaught.
:[A man in a top hat appears on the right side of the panel with a "Poof"]

:[Panel with just the man in a top hat, holding a newspaper]
:Man in a top hat: Hi! I'm a time traveler from 1896. Let me tell you about '''''our''''' election night coverage.
:Man in a top hat: *Ahem*
:Man in a top hat: From the ''Chicago Tribune''

:[Zoom in on the head of the man in a top hat]
:Man in a top hat: "Once every hour from the roof of the Great Northern Hotel a series of bombs, which will ascend for several thousand feet, will be fired. Two colors will be used, blue and red."
:Man in a top hat: "Blue to indicate McKinley's election, red to indicate Bryan's election."
:Man in a top hat: "The bombardment of the skies will commence at 7 o'clock and will be repeated hourly."
:[Grey citation]: Chicago Tribune, Oct 30th & Nov 1st, 1896

:[Megan and Cueball on the left looking at the man in the top hat on the right]
:Megan: Yeah, well, we have a ''needle,'' though.
:Man in a top hat: A needle.
:Megan: It jiggles!
:Man in a top hat: Sounds awful.
:Cueball: Listen, you had to be there.

==Trivia==
*The character with the large black top hat is wearing a typical hat worn by wealthy men in the late 19th and early 20th century and should not be mixed up with [[Black Hat]]... 
**Though the fact that he appears from nowhere just to tell total strangers why they're wrong IS somewhat suspect - he could be one of Black Hat's ancestors.
*The equivalent to the 'needle', in the UK, is the '{{w|Swingometer}}', which has long been used to demonstrate the current predictions (or the potential, for example, to have small changes making large differences) for the outcome of an ongoing election.

===Election related header texts===
*On election day the [[Design_of_xkcd.com#Header_text|Header text]] changed once more to [[Design_of_xkcd.com#2018-11-06|help people to vote]]. This time including an entire comic with links on what to do to vote and nudging people to go nudge family and friends to go voting.
**It was the third time up to the election that Randall changed the Header text on that account.
*** The first time was about two weeks before the election, on [[Design_of_xkcd.com#2018-10-22|2018-10-22]], when [[2061: Tectonics Game]] was up on the front page. Here a link was given on how to register for voting.
***Second time was the Friday before the election, on [[Design_of_xkcd.com#2018-11-02|2018-11-02]], four days before the election. On that day the comic [[2067: Challengers]] tried to help people decide who to vote for.  A second link was added to the first helping people to know what was on their local voting ballot. Both these links were also present in the election day header text.
**After election day the header text returned to the standard: xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Time travel]]