In fourteen days, US citizens will be voting in the most contentious election in nearly a hundred years. In actuality, millions of people have already cast their ballots by mail.
Thousands of words have been written over the last two years about what that day in two weeks will be like. Not since the U.S. Presidential election of 1876, Hayes vs. Tilden, where the electoral counts from four states were in dispute, creating a stalemate that took weeks to resolve, have we seen anything more upsetting than we’ll probably soon witness.
We’ve all been warned that making accurate projections of winners won’t be possible on election night or even twenty-four hours later. We’re being told it’s time to let go of old ideas about how election night will work. The lead candidate early in the night may not be the winner when all votes are counted, due to which ballots happen to be counted first.
Election night? Some are saying Election Month may be more like it. And yet, as much as I resist, I’ll probably be glued to the TV wanting to know what the results are. I’m not a patient person.
I know I’ll be holding my breath throughout the whole process, wanting to know if I will be able to toast my candidate as the winner or if I need to make sure my passport is up to date. And this is just the election.
Seeing what comes after the election – after the final tally – might be a whole Dante’s Inferno of its own. I won’t guess what might erupt after the vote. Too many “if’s” to wrangle. But I won’t be surprised, whatever happens. At least I don’t think I will (she said tentatively).
Are you as caught off guard as I am that our later years in life would be characterized by fear and hatred and falsehoods in the good ol’ US of A? Personally, in a girlie sort of way, I know if women had had a larger share of the leadership of this country, we wouldn’t be where we are today. (A topic for another day.)
What will you be doing on that night in two weeks? If you’re planning an election night party, you might want to make sure you have socially distanced sleeping quarters for your guests while the votes are counted and the debate about fairness is finally resolved.
As of now I’m going to try to keep the news off for awhile. I’m not sure if this is realistic or if I could be successful keeping the results at bay for 24 to 48 hours. But, I bet I get the chance to try. Meanwhile, just sign me as “Holding My Breath.”