The Red Mirage and the Blue Shift: What to expect as results come in

The COVID-19 pandemic and former President Donald Trump's attacks on voting by mail completely upended the way people vote in elections.

Democrats are now more likely to vote early in-person or by mail, while most Republicans wait until Election Day to cast ballots. And those voting patterns can make election nights confusing to onlookers, as the results can look very different depending on the order in which those ballots are tabulated. 

In states where ballots cast on Election Day are counted first, it can lead to a phenomenon known as a Red Mirage, where Trump looks to be ahead but his lead diminishes as early and mail-in ballots then get counted, leading to a so-called Blue Shift.

Political analyst and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich describes the phenomenon in this helpful explainer—and predicts that Trump will try to exploit it.