How Election Week 2022 Went Down

And just for context — extending polling hours when there are issues, delays or just very long lines is also a fairly common practice during elections. One example: Durham County, North Carolina, was allowed to keep voting centers in some precincts open for 20 to 60 minutes in 2016 after computer glitches caused delays.

It’s interesting to see that in the preliminary exit polls (which are incomplete and subject to change), support for legal abortion in all or most cases is higher than it was in 2020. As usual, there isn’t much of a gender gap on this question — women are about as likely as men to say that abortion should be legal, although women were more likely to say that it was their top issue. That’s likely due at least in part to the fact that women are more likely to identify as Democrats, and Democrats were more likely to say that abortion was their top issue. But still, it’s something worth keeping tabs on as the night goes on.

Republicans are doing really well in Florida. Notably, Rubio is leading in Miami-Dade County and Pinellas County (St. Petersburg), and DeSantis is leading in those two plus Hillsborough County (Tampa). And Election Day votes (which skew Republican) haven’t even reported yet!