That was due in part that blue was the color of the Union in the Civil War. As more networks (like ABC and others) went to full color, no network could agree on what party should be what color.

But ABC flipped the NBC color scheme, using blue for Carter, red for Reagan and orange for states won by John Anderson, a third-party candidate who received 6.6 percent of the popular vote.

The idea of “red states” and “blue states” may feel deeply embedded in the symbolism of US politics, but before 2000 the colors were often the other way around. CNN values your feedback 1.

Massachusetts voters have started receiving mail-in ballots for the state primary in September, and some might have noticed the seemingly reversed colors.Democratic ballots have a reddish header ...