Can Somebody Explain The Graphics?

[vanlassie]

This is the same graphic that ran in my paper today. Why do the Dems have numbers like "940" and the Reps have "40,326" next to their respective winners? One set of numbers looks like total votes cast (Republicans) Explain it to me like I was a first grader, please?



http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/results/states/IA.html

Iowa’s Caucuses
Results

Democrats
46 delegates will be decided April 26 - June 14
Candidate Vote %
Barack Obama 940 37.6%
John Edwards 744 29.7%
Hillary Clinton 737 29.5%
Bill Richardson 53 2.1%
Joe Biden 23 0.9%
Others 3 0.1%
Chris Dodd 1 0.0%
Mike Gravel 0 0.0%
Dennis J. Kucinich 0 0.0%
100% reporting | Updated 2:59 PM ET
The vote totals for the Iowa Democratic Party are State Delegate Equivalents, which represent the estimated number of state convention delegates that the candidates would have, based on the caucus results.
Republicans
37 delegates will be decided June 14
Candidate Vote %
Mike Huckabee 40,326 34.3%
W. Mitt Romney 29,674 25.3%
Fred Thompson 15,726 13.4%
John McCain 15,383 13.1%
Ron Paul 11,723 10.0%
Rudy Giuliani 4,059 3.5%
Duncan Hunter 519 0.4%
Tom Tancredo 5 0.0%
97% reporting | Updated 2:59 PM ET

[IcyPeas]

1. I was wondering the same thing..... anyone know?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

2. I asked a similar question this morning.

It's is do to the fact that the Democratic Party releases a total estimating the number of delegates and the Republicans release caucus vote totals.

[bpeale]

3. the dems just use a different system of counting than the repugs

and it all has to do with that 15% thing. it's just some formula they use. the repugs do a straight count system.

[tkmorris]

4. The two parties differ in what they report

As I understand it, the Republicans report total votes cast for candidates but the Democrats in Iowa do not. The Democrats rather compute vote totals locally and only report the number of delegates won by each candidate.

[HeraldSquare212]

5. The Dems don't release votes cast

Just number of 'delegate equivalents' that those votes turned into based on calculations that I think are unknown but apparently give weight to certain areas of the states, eg., rural, and/or give weight to areas that had large turn-out in the past. So,the percentage of votes received does not necessarily translate into the same percentage of delegates received, though it may, I guess.

The Reps just do a straight straw poll and release the number of actual votes.

[MADem]

6. The GOP figures are caucus goers, the D figures are estimated number of state convention delegates

It's apples and oranges accounting, it looks like! The D's had a better turnout than the R's. They note it in the text below the graph:

The vote totals for the Iowa Democratic Party are State Delegate Equivalents, which represent the estimated number of state convention delegates that the candidates would have, based on the caucus results.

[vanlassie]

7. Well here's my concern:

I want people to know how many people are turning out to vote for Dems and how many are turning out to vote for Reps. It is noteworthy if MANY MORE Democrats are turning out, I would think. Wouldn't that enter into any evaluation later, if the facists try to rig another election?

In other words, if Republicans are staying home in droves during their own primaries, and then somehow they have the MOST votes in the general election.....does this count for anything?

[orleans]

8. michael moore email

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2588627

"the most important news out of the caucus this evening was the whopping, room-busting turnout of Democrats. 239,000 people showed up to vote Democratic tonight (93% more than in '04, which was a record year), while only 115,000 showed up to vote Republican. And this is a red state!"

[vanlassie]

9. I Would Like To Hear Dem Candidates Repeating This

information! No one else will!!!!

vanlassie

[SalviaBlue]

10. I agree!!!

This is the thing to watch from now on... How many Dems are turning out versus Cons. BIG NEWS in my opinion.

[SalviaBlue]

11. I realize Dems and Cons use two different systems but

its annoying. Its like at the grocery store's "price per" calculation using per ounce for one brand and per liter for the other.

Additionally, when your average Joe looks at these graphs on TV or the paper they see big numbers for the Cons and little numbers for the Dems when the truth of the matter is the Dem's showed up 2 to 1 to the Cons (in a Red state no less).

I really hope the candidates point this out.

(I did notice that John Edward mentioned that the Dems represented 67% of the Iowa voters when he was interviewed on the Today show.)