Polls close so early in Indiana ...
Since Indiana is so solid Republican it is called first, although this election Kentucky will also be called at the same time.
6PM is a little early to close polls. I think if they were to standardize this things that it should be closer to 8.
Its arguable that perhaps calling so early spurs voting on some occasions. If it looks like it is going to be very very close out east , in the west it'll be extra incentive to get out and tip the election your way.
In any case i think calling eastern races early so everyone in the West can here it on the evening news doesn't effect much in either direction. If your candidate is dominating, you can sit at home since he doesn't need you, and if your candidate is getting whacked you can sit at home and cry.
However, calling a state before its polls close definitely effects the results.
Perhaps they should all agree to wait until the first 10% (5% in large states) of precincts have reported. So they have actual results to back up the exit polls.
In any case a uniform reporting time would bum me out. It was a lot of fun sitting watching the states go for Gore. Being excited that they didn't call Georgia thirty five seconds after polls closed, since that of course meant that Gore was competitive in the South ...
Agonizing when they took Florida away from Gore, and named Bush the president. But having a sneaky suspicion that Bush's victory in Florida wasn't a given and staying awake till whatever hour that they retracted it.
Election junkies like us wouldn't like it if they waited till midnight to tell us what happened.
