Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

General Discussion

cthulu2016

(10,960 posts) Mon Nov 11, 2013, 01:11 PM Nov 2013

Obenshain currently leads Herring 1,103,443 votes to 1,103,426 votes

I would suggest that if you took 2.2 million Virginians and assigned 1.1 million of them to vote for Obenshain, and assigned 1.1 million of them to vote for Herring the result would probably be off by more than 17 votes one way or another just due to the random distribution of human error.

It is a remarkable thing.

Question: Out of 2.2 million coin-flips, what are the odds of the result being within 17 heads or tails of 50%-50%?

Link for number:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/republican-obenshain-leads-democratic-candidate-herring-by-just-17-votes-in-virginia-ag-race