Today’s Big Story

What to Expect From Election Day

The ads will stop, but we might not know who won tonight

We made it. Election Day is finally here. Billions in ad dollars spent. Countless text messages sent. All the campaigning, scandals, assassination attempts, weirdness and a major party candidate swap have all led to this day. Have you voted? More than 78 million Americans already have.

But official in-person voting has been happening for hours. The day’s first in-person votes of the New Hampshire general election were cast at midnight in Dixville Notch, where there are six registered voters this cycle. The small town has a tradition dating to 1960 in which voters place their ballots in a wooden box shortly after midnight. The results are announced minutes later—interestingly, the result of the presidential race was a tie: Harris and Trump each received three votes.

Don’t always expect such immediate results. We may have to wait a while (days, even) to find out who will be the next American president. We know there are seven battleground states that will decide the outcome, barring a major surprise. But major questions persist about the timing of the results, the makeup of the electorate and the influx of misinformation. Pennsylvania’s new mail ballot rules will lead to thousands of provisional ballots on Election Day. And then there are all the legal challenges that can delay the results.

As the Washington Post warns, the polls show an extremely tight presidential race. And the closer the results are, the longer it will take to know the outcome. They say we can expect races called in such swing states as Wisconsin and North Carolina tonight, but Georgia and Michigan could take days. So, too, could Arizona and Pennsylvania.

Then there’s the possibility of political violence. According to Axios, National Guard units in several states and local law enforcement agencies are on alert or standby and poll workers also have gone through de-escalation training to help them respond to possible threats on Election Night. Voting locations in cities and rural areas are getting security upgrades, sometimes with concrete barriers, extra fencing and locked doors.

As for where the candidates themselves will be watching the returns, Harris will host an election night watch party at Howard University in Washington D.C., her alma mater. Trump is planning on voting in person today in Florida and the campaign said they’ll be holding a watch party tonight in West Palm Beach.

How Has the Electoral College Survived?

Especially considering it’s perennially unpopular

Every presidential election cycle, the topic inevitably comes up. “Why do we have the electoral college?” It’s complicated. But because of it, former President Donald Trump may well win the election while receiving far fewer votes than Vice President Kamala Harris—and it would mark the third time in seven rounds (after 2000 and 2016) that this has happened.

This has fueled widespread dissatisfaction. A majority of Americans—more than 60%—support abolishing the Electoral College in favor of a national popular vote for president, according to a September report by the Pew Research Center. But the system has survived an unprecedented number of attempts to change it. NPR reports that there have been more proposals for Constitutional amendments on changing the Electoral College than on any other subject, citing more than 700 efforts to dismantle the process via the National Archives.

Opinion pieces have been brutal. The Guardian said that it’s “time to scrap an antidemocratic relic,” as concerns about America’s democracy grow globally. And Newsweek points out that the Electoral College was established in 1787 during the Constitutional Convention, when there were just 13 states forming a union. And almost every one of the reasons for it no longer applies—beginning with the main goal of balancing influence between populous and less-populous states. “The system was also designed to preserve the states as distinct entities, reflecting the federal system. That might sound right, and it certainly reflected the hesitation the 13 colonies felt in establishing a single nation.” But it definitely feels wildly out of sync with reality now, doesn’t it?

Thanksgiving Travel Trends

Solo trips, family getaways and the surprising group staying put

Where are you headed for Thanksgiving? I’ll be heading back to my Midwest roots and spending time with family and friends in Illinois. I plan on eating way too much and relaxing (in between finding the best Black Friday deals, of course). But some Americans—seeking self-care and a respite from the pressures of the season—are viewing the holidays as a perfect time to take a trip on their own.

According to the New York Times, spending the holidays away from friends or family has long carried a stigma of loneliness. But that’s changing as more people replace the pressures of gift giving and holiday traditions with self-care and the chance to make up for travel opportunities they missed during the pandemic.

But family get-togethers can be opportunities to travel, too. Airbnb says that lots of people are electing to get away for Turkey Day. The company reports that nearly 20% of its Thanksgiving bookings are for 10 or more guests—which probably means multiple families or multigenerational groups celebrating together (and not surprisingly, to hold all those guests, nearly half the booked listings are for homes with three or more bedrooms). They also found that Thanksgiving was the most popular time of the year for people to travel with their pets. As for who’s not traveling? Young people. Surprisingly, more than 40% of Gen Z surveyed said they have blackout dates on their calendars during the holiday season when they refuse to travel. They simply want to relax.

Have You Seen the ‘Pokémon’ Trading Card App?

Could this virtual version of the beloved trading card experience hit the heights of Pokémon Go?

There’s nothing quite like opening a fresh pack of trading cards, right? I, myself, am not much of a Pokémon fan, but I have gotten a chance to check out the new Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, a trading and battling game on iOS and Android devices that’s currently blowing up. And that simple act of ripping open a foil packet of cards is mimicked digitally onscreen and is still profoundly satisfying.

According to Sports Illustrated, that little act is essentially Creatures Inc.’s way of making sure you open more. “And you know what? It works, annoyingly. To be fair, the developer has been running the real Pokémon TCG since 2003. That’s over two decades of dialing in on your lizard brain’s pleasure receptors.” To earn cards—and the currency needed to buy them—you’ll need to fight. Battles resemble a streamlined version of the physical Pokémon TCG. Decks reduce from 60 to 20, and benches go from five to three.

Will it reach the frenzy of Pokémon Go? Hard to say. But Gizmodo reports that the game, released just last week, has already been downloaded by over 10 million people, and is raking in Pokédollars hand over fist. And, as CNET points out, it’s easy to play. “The app also helps point out when you might not be playing your best. I forgot to distribute an energy card, and before I ended my turn, the app acted as a coach, nudging me to not attack before making all possible moves to level up my character first.”

Your November Reading List

From a long-awaited biography to fantasy that's even stranger than our current reality

What are you reading these days? Are you looking for an escape? I don't blame you. Thankfully, this month provides plenty of good books to dive into. From a biography on Johnny Carson that's decades in the making and some intense historical fiction to a wild tale from an author who "appreciates the genuine strangeness of our real world".

Regret nothing.