The news was all good for Florida Gov. Rick Scott (Tea/GOP) in a recent Quinnipiac University poll…if you consider losing re-election by at least six points to any competitor to be good news. In a match-up with former Gov. Charlie Crist (who is considering running against him as a Democrat), Scott would lose 47 – [...]

201,000

Number of Floridians disenfranchised on Election Day 2012 because of long lines, according to new research on voter patterns and precinct-closing times which showed turnout fell by 2.3% for each hour of waiting. Republicans in Florida’s state houses cut the number of early voting days while crowding the ballot with 11 constitutional amendments that totaled more than 3,000 words (or about six college-level term papers), resulting in up to a five-hour wait in some precincts. The study was narrowly structured, but its researcher suspected even more people missed voting. “My gut is telling me that the real number deterred is likely higher,” he said.

There’s an interesting list of numbers on the website, Meet the NRA. Ladd Everitt, communications director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, recently called the National Rifle Association a “paper tiger.” With this record, I can see why. The National Rifle Association of America Political Victory Fund received a 0.83% return on the $11 [...]

4

Number of times, (until last week) over the past 100 years, when one major party won more popular votes for U.S. House, yet the other major party won more seats. The years were 1914, 1942, 1952, and 1996. Of course, 2012 makes it five times.

1%

The return on investment (ROI) from Karl Rove’s American Crossroads super PAC in the 2012 elections, since almost every candidate for which the group ran ads lost. Rove’s Crossroads GPS, which is not required to disclose its donors, had a 13% ROI. Together, the two groups spent about $176 million, mostly on TV ads. By contrast, Priorities USA Action, a Democratic super PAC, had a 100% ROI, since it put its $67 million behind Pres. Obama. Majority PAC, which supported Democratic Senate candidates, produced a 70% ROI, and House Majority PAC, a 44% ROI.

Silver won because, um, science.

– Dan Lyons, editor of ReadWrite, explaining why FiveThirtyEight blogger Nate Silver triumphed over rightwing critics who disparaged his matrix using polls to predict elections.

Before dawn broke in my neighborhood, the Romney/Ryan yard signs disappeared from lawns. The zzzppptt! of Romney/Ryan bumper stickers being torn off like bandaids, in grim, lip-pursed yanks, might be what woke me up this morning. Almost as if they had never existed, the traces of Romney’s support were gone. As soon as it became [...]

This picture of the line for early voting on Saturday in Miami* should explain why a Florida judge ruled on Sunday that early voting must be allowed to continue today, despite Gov. Rick Scott’s order that it would end. What’s happening at the polls in Florida feels a lot like “self voter suppression.” The Republican [...]

Republicans seem to be betting that the folks on the receiving end of this mailer are crack-stupid. Will the next campaign feature Nancy Kerrigan style knee-capping? Soviet style poisoning? Kathy Castor-Dentel, an elementary school teacher and a Democrat, is running for the Florida State House of Representatives, District 30. She is the daughter of Betty [...]

2

Number of Republicans arrested for vote fraud on Friday, Nov. 2. In Las Vegas, a 56-year-old registered Republican woman attempted to vote at two polling stations on the same day. In Portland, Ore., an elections office worker was caught filling in any blanks on ballots with a straight Republican ticket. There were no reports of Democrats committing vote fraud, but if you hear of any, please leave a link in the comments. P.S. Doctored videos by James O’Keefe don’t count.