This illusion is deliberately formed when mail-in and early votes are held back to be counted after votes placed on election day. Since mail-in votes tend to be heavily Democratic, in practice this looks as if Republicans are winning early in the evening, then slowly Democratic votes are counted into the majority. Then Republicans claim that the later count was fraudulent, even though the mail-in votes are as valid as any.

Expect to see a lot of this tonight and tomorrow, alongside other efforts to claim fraud where there is none.

Will the GQP prime their base for action by falsely claiming victory, before all the early voting and mail-in ballots are counted? The “Red Mirage” phenomenon that was the basis for Donald Trump's 2020 FALSE victory claim may be exploited by BIG LIE candidates on November 8. pic.twitter.com/J14u34Sllm

— Tony 🌊 Vote Blue 🇺🇸 (@TonyHussein4) November 8, 2022