Projections premature

The election imbroglio in Florida raises a question that has been troubling me during the past several national elections: Of what serious value to American citizens are these projections of winning candidates? I can think of no worthy value .

The projections are usually made before the polls have closed in states lying in the eastern and central time zones. Winners are proclaimed not for just those zones but for the whole country. I wonder what effect this has on voters in the mountain and western states, many of whom have not yet cast their ballots.

Prediction of the election outcome based on exit polls should be discontinued. Legislation designed to stop these projections likely would never be achieved because of free press-free speech issues. But American can make their wishes known via the mails and via the on-off switch on their electronic receivers. The networks and their financial supporters will respond. Earland Sleight Orono