Election 2020: what the data tell us

The presidential election has been transformed by data. From key swing states and early voting to voter suppression and possible election-night chaos, Elliott Morris, our data journalist and election guru, discusses his polling predictions and answers your questions about the 2020 race for the White House. Register for our free webinar Trump v Biden: what it means for the economy: https://subscriberevents.economist.com/ 00:00 - An unprecedented election 00:35 - Why should we trust election predictions? 02:03 - How will the pandemic affect election predictions? 03:04 - Voter turnout in swing states 03:55 - Why we don’t use early voting data in our forecast 05:14 - Mail-in ballot rejection rates 07:38 - How long can we expect to wait for the results? 08:42 - Could the results flip after all mail-in ballots are counted? 09:39 - Will Americans accept the election result? Further reading: Find the Economist’s coverage of the US elections here: https://www.economist.com/us-election-2020 Sign up to The Economist’s daily newsletter to keep up to date with our latest US election coverage: https://econ.st/3l79OHi Find The Economist’s most recent coverage of covid-19 here: https://econ.st/2CQRUr2 Sign up to The Economist’s weekly “Checks and Balance” newsletter to keep up to date with our coverage of American politics: https://econ.st/3l5C4dl Read about concerns surrounding voter suppression in America: https://econ.st/3do8tII Why Amy Coney Barrett’s supreme court nomination is so contentious: https://econ.st/3lLyhRT Read about how religious partisanship is influencing American politics: https://econ.st/2SUKnvS Read about the foreign and domestic risks that plague America’s 2020 elections: https://econ.st/3nPbKFJ