We are two weeks away from the all important Election Day for the US.

To try to get people more imformed in the process, I will hold a contest:

--I will present to you 17 swing states that could go to either Bush or Kerry. Your task is to guess which candidate will win each state. Whoever correctly guesses the most states will get an audio copy of every show from the 2004 Pearl Jam that I have.

--In the event of a tie, the tiebreaker will be determined by your secondary guesses of what the Senate and House breakdown will be. Tell me BOTH the party that will control the Senate/House, AND the number of seats that the controlling party will have.

--If you need any tips on the Electoral College, check out this site: http://www.electoral-vote.com/

--In the case that Colorado splits its electoral votes, the "winner" of Colorado is still the candidate that gets the most votes in that state.

--At the end of this post is the ballot for the contest. Copy and paste the ballot to the subject box of your e-mail program, and at the end of every state, tell me who will win that state. At the very end, also tell me your House and Senate tiebreakers, and which party will control each branch.

--E-mail the responses to greenhabits@yahoo.com. You MUST get your ballot in before 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Friday, October 29..

--PLEASE only send me one ballot. There's no need to rush these ballots, as a lot of the states will remain a tossup before Election day, so make absolutely sure what you are picking before you send it!

========================================
OFFICIAL BALLOT FOR THE 2004 RM ELECTION DAY CONTEST
========================================

Swing States (type Bush or Kerry after the state):
---------------------------------------------------------

1) Nevada
2) Arizona
3) New Mexico
4) Oregon
5) Colorado
6) Missouri
7) Iowa
8. Minnesota
9) Wisconsin
10) Michigan
11) Ohio
12) Pennsylvania
13) West Virginia
14) New Hampshire
15) Virginia
16) North Carolina
17) Florida

First tiebreaker:
Senate Control (type the party in control AND how many seats below):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Second tiebreaker:
House Control (type the party in control AND how many seats below):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

=========================================

I'll take the second post

Should we move the deadline up so people can't wait for election eve polls?

Also want to clarify...do you mean one minute after 11:59 PM on Sunday night at midnight Monday? I've had much confusion w/ this in my life.

wow cool contest

man, i knew god had a devine plan as to why to shut down the synergy message pit... i think i've found a new home.

thanks for the coolest contest i've heard of.

Oops.

how do I find out how many senate and house seats are up for grabs???

and is this the question: how many seats will the party be the majority by

or

is it how many seat will be won by each party and who will come out on top???

thanks!

That's why I wanted people to get in before Election Eve.



Yes. I've changed it to 11:59 just to make things clearer.

Try this website:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/specia ... index.html

Or try googling for "2004 senate races" or something.

The House is trickier--that's why it's the second tiebreaker.



You could tell me either one. In both scenarios, you'll still end up telling me how many seats the majority party has.

thanks!!

To the three of you who have already sent in your ballots, I need you to tell me BOTH the party that will control the Senate/House, AND the number of seats that the controlling party will have.

I think you should weight some credit for the people who get their votes in earlier. How hard is it going to be to pick this stuff on Nov. 1 after ANOTHER two weeks of poll results?

I'll send you my predictions now.

--PunkDavid

<edit> BTW, Senate race info is also available at http://www.electoral-vote.com/info/senate.html

What would you propose to be a good cut-off time then, David?

A week before. The Friday before.

--PunkDavid

I'd say a week before...next Tuesday (October 26)

I say two days before. i lot can happen in a week, i.e. drunk driving arrests come to light.

Love the contest idea.


Hope I have the time though....


will try!

Alright, the compromise will be no later than the end of Friday. So everyone has about 8 days to finalize their picks.

Nice idea. This is going to be easy as 1 2 3.