2016 Election Night

We’ve spent a lot of time talking this year about the visceral reactions that each candidate elicits from the American public — they were both historically disliked — so what’s struck me in the initial exit polls are what Americans said about their level of fear about the future, no matter who is elected. Preliminary exit polls suggest that 17 percent of voters are excited by the idea of Clinton as president and 29 percent are scared of it; only 13 percent of voters are excited about Trump as president, while 37 percent said that idea scared them.

Colorado’s statewide voter database apparently broke down for about 20 minutes this afternoon. This rendered voters unable to cast ballots during that time period, although people who’d previously filled out their mail-in ballots could drop them off. Voters could also drop off provisional ballots during that time. According to the secretary of state’s office, the system is working again now.

Here’s another interesting tidbit from the exit polls: Voters overall consider the economy the top issue facing the next president. But Clinton voters are significantly more focused on the economy than Trump voters, who are more concerned with terrorism and immigration. That runs counter to the narrative, which we’ve previously questioned, that Trump supporters are motivated primarily by economic anxiety. (On the other hand, opposition to immigration may be driven at least in part by economic concerns.)