Okay, I kept seeing some random panicked reactions so I broke my own rule and did a search to see what percentages are actually being officially reported on, and yeah, we’re getting into higher reported numbers in states, and so I understand why so many people are panicking.
But, and this is important:
There are still votes being counted, and official counts in some places could take days to be finalized.
And this is actually good fucking news because, the places that take the longest to finish their counts and verify their counts, are the more densely populated areas… places that, with such high voter turnout, tend to go blue.
These votes all matter and help determine the actual results of the election.
And I know it’s hard to remember because presidential elections happen every four years, and by the time we get to the next one we remember how stressed we felt on election night and then however we felt when that result became official….
But four years ago, that election? Actually took DAYS before all votes were finalized and verified and the official result was released. And things kept going back and forth and back and forth in nauseatingly uncomfortable ways during those few days of counting and double counting and verifying all the votes — in person votes, mail in votes, every single vote. And in the most populated areas, some major key cities, votes kept being contested and they’d have to go through the same ballots again and again until they went through all the procedures to determine yes, these are the votes, and here are our numbers.
And this is all very very normal.
Yes, sometimes election results become known the same night… but it’s actually much more normal for us not to know for sure for a day or two or maybe up to a week later.
I would have to actually go double check online to confirm the number, but I do know it was at least a couple of days after Election Day before we knew the results in 2020… like, my hazy memories are that the absolute earliest we knew the presidential result was on Friday, because I remember how worried me and people I kept sharing worried messages with, were worried about what the count going into the weekend would do for our anxiety… but maybe the count did go into the weekend? I literally can’t remember.
But things kept looking different even hour by hour during those days where we didn’t have the final numbers, but things were initially so close when there were only those final percentage of votes left to be reported — those votes from the most populated areas — that it did just feel like the world might actually crush and crumble while waiting to see what would happen because how is it this close?
And then things shifted pretty quickly once votes were verified and those big cities started reporting, and things did keep looking up the more and more those final percentages of votes came in.
So, there’s literally still hope, folks. Unless in the time between when I did that search to see what percentages of votes were being reported, and as I’m finishing writing this somehow magically every vote everywhere has suddenly been verified and is in and I’m fucking wrong and we’re actually all fucked…
There could still be hope, okay?
Not knowing the actual final 100% votes counted and verified number tonight is the normal and expected outcome. And the closer we get to only having the most populous areas left to report, the more nauseating it’s going to feel to those of us for whom the outcome of this election hinges on those populous places coming through for us with high voter turnout which statistically gives us a rush of blue votes at the end of the process.
If you can, try and sleep tonight.
There’s a chance the votes won’t all be in tonight, in which case they’ll still be figuring things out in the morning anyway, and you’ll feel better for having slept.
And if things actually do get called in the middle of the night… cool, you can find out in the morning, and it’s the same result whether you slept or not, so you actually still deserve some sleep.
Keep breathing. Keep reminding yourself that until all the votes are in, we don’t know what all the votes actually say. And keep on hoping that things go to the way we need them to, okay?
Now go drink some water and take a break from reading or watching election results for at least a few minutes, okay?
andulkaphoto
izzy806
dailybridgerton
amandla
origamiaround
pixelskylines
