Vote, then prepare to be patient
More than half the nation's electorate has voted, many after waiting in long lines. Credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas
Tuesday's your last chance. Vote. Or mail in your absentee ballot. Then wait, and perhaps wait even longer.
More than half the nation's electorate has voted. Many stood in long lines. Millions more mailed in an absentee. Soon enough, it will be time for cheers or wails as we watch a map of the 50 states start turning red here and blue there.
Don't count on a quick conclusion.
It's unlikely our next president will be determined by election night. Control of the House of Representative and even the U.S. Senate could also take time to sort out. The only things that might be over by Wednesday morning are candidates' supporters ringing your doorbell, ominous flyers stuffing your mailbox, and hyperbolic ads airing on any and all media platforms.
If the election is as close as polls predict for the White House and other federal races, it could be many days before we see the full picture of who will hold power in Washington. Vote counting in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan is likely to take longer because of changes in procedures to ensure trust in the outcome, or because previously cumbersome processes remain in place. In Michigan, election officials said results could come 24 hours after the close of polls.
In an age when we expect DoorDash-speed gratification, delays at best mean we should adopt more efficient counting processes. Media organizations, while intensely competitive to be the first to call a state or even the presidency, are now more cautious about the risks of making a mistake. None of this means that something nefarious is afoot. Misinformation and disinformation will fill this void. Don't fall for it.
There is also the real possibility that those close preelection polls were off-base because of errors in the complex ways pollsters construct their models. If the polls are wrong and Donald Trump or Kamala Harris win a few of those swing states by comfortable margins, it will mean the many fixes pollsters made to better measure the electorate didn't work. It will not mean truckloads of fraudulent ballots were counted.
Keep in mind Tuesday night as early results come in that overall vote counts could be substantially different by the next day. Early voting totals, which were high everywhere, are often quickly posted but not necessarily same-day votes. Some states have mail ballots loaded into the system and ready to post when polls close; others, such as Arizona, have new rules on counting absentees that are likely to slow down the tally. Perceptions based on early vote totals Tuesday night might prove incorrect as vote-counting continues.
Even our anxiety has been polled. A survey by the American Psychological Association found that 72% of respondents said they were concerned about violence in reaction to the result, while 56% said this election could mean the end of democracy.
All the more reason for the vote counters to take their time and get it right.
MEMBERS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.
