I understand that the parties calculate how many of their registered voters actually voted, but how can they tell if we are voting third party or write-in to send a message? I'm guessing that the only message they will get is that we perfer Obama or at least didn't care if he got reelected.
If the GOPe doesn’t get the votes they potentially could have gotten they will at least get the message that their candidate didn’t appeal to many voters. They hire hundreds of people to find out why. They could also read the letters they get back with empty contribution envelopes. Or read a forum.